Dreamers
by LoneWolfSkye
Summary: Sequel to Once Upon a Time. Their world is finally at peace, but the girls are having nightmares about a past that they never knew. Now, their search for answers threatens the present and possibly their future. AU Rei/Minako
1. Prologue: Normal

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

A/N: Hello everyone! If you're reading this, hopefully that means you've already read 'Once Upon A Time'. If not if might be a little confusing as the story goes on... If you have, then fabulous and welcome back!

Warning: This story will feature a girl/girl relationship so if you're not into that, turn back now!

Hope you all enjoy the story and, as always, let me know what you think. :)

Prologue: Normal

-Rei-

Rei leaned back against the tree, staring through the branches at the afternoon sky. She'd gotten out of class two hours before but it was a beautiful spring day and much too nice out to start on homework yet. The sound of furious scribbling beside her indicated that Ami was already working on hers. _Rain, sleet, snow or gorgeous sunny afternoon_, she thought, _nothing keeps that girl from homework_. She smirked to herself as she dropped her gaze to her two companions. Ami was sitting cross-legged with her book bag open beside her and her notebook in her lap. Makoto was sitting close beside her, propped up on her hands and looking half asleep. They were on the front lawn of the high school, waiting for the last two members of their group.

"Reiiii!" a shrill yell caused the miko to tense and sit up. She looked around warily for the source and was immediately knocked flat by a mass of blonde hair and pompoms.

"Usagi," Rei grunted, trying to wriggle out from underneath her friend. She heard laughter and grimaced. _Why does she always have to do that? _she wondered as the weight shifted and she was allowed to sit up. She glared at the grinning blonde.

"I wish you went to our school," Usagi whined playfully, shaking a pompom at her. "You know things just aren't the same without you."

Rei snorted softly, pushing the fluffy implement away from her face. She noticed that Ami and Makoto were watching the conversation with amused expressions and bit back the comment she'd been about to utter. "How was practice?" she asked instead.

"Great!" Usagi shouted, causing Makoto to wince and Ami to sigh.

Ami shut her notebook and placed it carefully in her bag. "Where's Minako?"

"She's not here yet?" Usagi asked, looking around blankly. She shifted to sit between them and shrugged. "I guess they ran later than us." Usagi was on the cheerleading squad and her practices usually coincided with Minako's volleyball.

At that moment, Minako appeared jogging down the path toward them. She had her sports bag over her shoulder and her wet hair was pulled back in a ponytail. "Hey, guys!" she called as she skidded to a stop next to them. "I'm starving!"

"Let's go to the Crown!" Usagi cried, leaping to her feet. The blondes caught each other's hands and began jumping up and down in a small circle. Rei rolled her eyes and Makoto let out a snort of laughter. _You would never know that two weeks ago we defeated Galaxia and came back from the dead, _she mused. Her smile faltered slightly. _Don't think about that_, she ordered herself firmly.

"Absolutely not," Ami said sharply over them, drawing Rei's attention again. Minako and Usagi stopped dancing and gave her identical puppy dog looks. Ami pushed her reading glasses up her nose, clearly unmoved. "We have a test Monday. We will order take out and go study."

They both turned pleading blue eyes on Rei as she stood and gathered her things. She raised an eyebrow at them. "The only reason we sat around waiting for you two was so we could all study together."

"But…"

"Rei…"

Rei sighed heavily. _Those two are going to be the death of me… _She grimaced internally at the choice of words. "Alright maybe if we get a lot done we can go later," she grumbled. She winced as there were two ear splitting squeals and both girls ran to hug her. "Alright, alright," she growled, "Let's get going."

-One Hour Later-

"So are you coming to my game tomorrow?" Minako demanded, poking Rei in the shoulder.

Rei turned to her and raised an eyebrow. "You have a game tomorrow?"

"Rei!" the blonde pouted, grabbing her arm, "I told you about it almost a week ago!"

Rei feigned serious contemplation for a moment, then smiled when they reached the door of the Crown. "I'm just kidding, of course I'll be there." She was rewarded with a not so gentle punch to the shoulder. "Hey!" She raised her arms defensively and stepped back.

Cerulean eyes narrowed at her. "That's for teasing me," she stated matter-of-factly. Then she caught her arm again and leaned closer to kiss her cheek. Rei flushed darkly and gave the smaller girl a sideways look. "That's for remembering," she said with a playful smirk.

"Minako! They're having a half-price sale today!" Usagi cried, skipping up to them. Rei watched in amusement as they giggled and shot off toward the counter.

More demurely, she followed them inside and took a seat at their usual booth. Absently, she touched her cheek where Minako had kissed her and shook her head. _That girl is such a flirt, she drives me insane_, she thought as she glanced up at the counter.

Ami and Makoto grinned as they slid into the opposite seat from her. "What'd they do to you?" Makoto asked teasingly.

Rei glanced over at her in confusion. "Do?" she repeated.

"You're as red as your fuku," the brunette pointed out. Rei started to sputter a response but was saved by the arrival of the blondes.

"I wanted to sit on the inside," Usagi whined, turning pleading eyes on them. Makoto and Ami glanced at each other but showed no sign of moving so Rei sighed heavily and wordlessly stood up. "You're the best, Rei!" Usagi cried.

She attempted to hug the taller girl while balancing a huge bowl of ice cream. Knowing her Princess, Rei snatched the bowl from her and set it safely on the table. She sat after the blonde and a root beer float appeared in front of her. Minako sat on her other side, smiling slightly but keeping her focus on her milkshake.

Rei smiled at her and took an appreciative sip. "Thanks," she said softly. Minako smiled around her straw but didn't comment. Rei sat back and studied the other two across the table. They were talking quietly with their heads close together. Finally, Ami huffed and sat back with her eyes narrowed. Makoto grinned and got up to head to the counter.

"What's up?" Rei asked the bluenette.

Ami pursed her lips and shot a look across the table at them. "Tomorrow, we are definitely studying for that test."

"But my game's tomorrow!" Minako said in outrage. "You're not coming?"

Ami sighed when Makoto returned, sliding a strawberry shake in front of her. Rei waited while she took a long sip and considered. Finally she smiled. "Alright," she relented. "But we're definitely going to study after!"

Rei smiled to herself as she watched the exchange. It seemed that after everything they'd been through, they were finally going to get the chance to be normal teenagers.

-Minako-

Minako grinned up at the stands, waving at her friends as she strode onto the court. Usagi had her pompoms and was waving them wildly, much to the annoyance of the people sitting behind her. Ami was beside her, looking mildly uncomfortable with being so close to the excitable blond. She did, however, flash a genuine smile when her eyes met Minako's. Next to her, Makoto was grinning and waving happily.

Minako's eyes narrowed when she noticed one person conspicuously absent. She scanned the area around them again to make sure, then frowned. Rei wasn't there. She turned and jogged to her team's bench, forcing a cocky grin when her teammates greeted her.

They high-fived her and pulled her into the huddle. The captain grinned around at them. "Alright, team, tonight we're gonna- ooh!" she broke off, her eyes drawn to something behind them. "That pretty girl from T.A. is here!" she said excitedly.

Minako felt her heartbeat quicken slightly as she turned and found Rei trying to make her way toward their friends. She glared at several younger boys who whistled as she passed and Minako giggled. _Always so serious_, she thought with a small shake of her head.

As though she knew she was being thought about, Rei abruptly turned and met her gaze. Minako grinned and waved at her, then blew her a kiss. Rei smirked, then blushed, scowled then rolled her eyes. Minako giggled and was rewarded with a grudging smile from the other girl.

She turned back to the huddle, still grinning. Rei's presence had fueled her confidence and now she was ready to play.

-Two Hours Later-

Minako pulled her wet hair into a messy ponytail, not wanting to take the time to fix it. She stuffed her bag into her locker, shouted a hurried farewell to her teammates and sprinted out of the locker room. There was still a decent sized crowd milling around in the gym when she entered. People cheered and yelled congratulations to her as she passed. She smiled and waved but didn't stop. She was focused on one destination.

She saw them at a corner of the bleachers. Makoto was standing and leaning over the side rail with Ami sitting on the bottom row. Usagi was standing on her other side, occasionally waving her pompoms as she spoke. Rei was sitting beside Ami, looking stoic and mildly bored. She was the first to spot Minako, however, and stood with a rare grin.

"We won!" Minako cried, running toward them. She saw Rei tense and giggled as she leapt on the miko. The taller girl swayed for a moment as she found her balance, but didn't drop her. Minako pressed a kiss on her cheek and hugged her tightly. When she let go she was delighted to see the fantastic blush she had caused.

Rei cleared her throat and stepped back to allow the others to engulf her in hugs. "Minako you were amazing!" Usagi gushed. "That last set I didn't think you were going to get it, and then that diving save…" Minako smiled fondly at her Princess as she continued the play-by-play.

Once they'd all calmed down she glanced at all of them. "What do you want to do now?"

Ami straightened and fixed them with a beady stare. Minako felt her heart sink. She knew what that look meant. "We have a test to study for," she said firmly. Then to everyone's surprise, she smiled. "After we take Minako to the Crown to celebrate."

"Yay!" Minako and Usagi squealed together. They hugged her, then caught each other's hands, doing a quick victory dance around the bluenette.

"Alright you two," Makoto said good naturedly, "let the girl breath." She pushed them away slightly and deftly pulled Ami from between them. Rei chuckled softly, catching Minako's attention. She shot the raven a wide grin and caught her hand, leading them all out of the gym.

The sun was just going down and the cool evening air was refreshing. Minako took a deep breath and smiled to herself. Life had become so peaceful and, dare she say, normal. _No youma, no sadistic evil beings, no more death… _Her mood deflated slightly at the thought. She refused to dwell on it, however. _We're alive, all of us. It's like it never happened_. She bit her lip. _Except for the dreams._ She knew the other's were suffering them too, she could see it in the dark circles under weary eyes. _How many deaths is too many_? she mused.

A gentle elbow to the ribs brought her out of her dark thoughts. "Why so serious?" Rei asked softly, giving her a half smile. "You just kicked ass in that game and you're about to get free ice cream."

Minako smirked at her friend. "Free?"

Rei shrugged. "Sure, you're the star tonight."

Minako smiled happily at her and linked their arms together. "Thanks, Rei." She knew the other girl understood that she was being thanked for more than the ice cream.

"Please, Mako?" Usagi pleaded, bringing their attention to the three in front of them.

"Usagi, I…" They watched the princess give the brunette a watery puppy dog look. "Fine," she huffed as she stopped. "But just this once." She bent down and Usagi gleefully clambered onto her back. Ami laughed lightly at them and Makoto shot her a look.

"You're going to spoil her," Ami teased.

Minako looked from them to Rei, who was watching her warily. She grinned brightly and the miko sighed. Wordlessly, she bent over slightly. With a giggle, Minako jumped onto her back and wrapped her arms loosely around her neck. She leaned forward so that her lips were right against her ear. "You're the best, Rei," she said softly.

Rei yelped slightly and she could imagine the glare in front of her. "Don't get used to it," she grumped as she resumed the trek toward the Crown. Minako just smiled and tightened her arms slightly.

She loved the way Rei would growl and snap at everyone, but still do everything she could to make them happy. Even little things like carrying her and buying her ice cream. _She's so loyal and protective and sweet, and no one else gets to see it_. She hugged her neck a bit more and could feel the vibration as she growled, "Minako, you're choking me."

She loosened her grip, but only slightly so she could rest her chin on a strong shoulder. She could feel slight tremors running through the muscles, but she knew Rei would never admit to being tired. They reached Crown a few minutes later and she placed a soft kiss behind Rei's ear before hopping off her back. Rei mumbled something incoherent, but it was lost in the excited squeal Usagi let out as she leapt from Makoto.

She and Usagi raced to the counter and, gasping for breath, placed an order for the five of them. "Minako," Motoki said happily, "I heard about your game! It's all on the house tonight, congratulations."

"Thanks," she said, flashing him a bright smile. Usagi had gone eerily silent and, when Minako looked over at her twin, she found her in a state of misty-eyed shock. "Come on," she chuckled, tugging the other blonde to the table.

The other three looked mildly alarmed at Usagi's silence. "What happened?" Ami asked as she studied them suspiciously.

Rei stood and helped Minako settle Usagi into the booth before sitting again. Minako sat on her other side and leaned forward slightly. "Motoki heard about my game and he said-"

"IT'S FREE!" Usagi suddenly exploded, making them all jump.

Rei instantly clamped a hand over her mouth and looked around in alarm. "If you want it to stay that way, keep it down Odango," she hissed.

Usagi nodded, blue eyes going wide at the prospect. Slowly, Rei removed her hand and the blonde launched into a whispered recounting of what had led to the free ice cream.

Rei raised an eyebrow at Minako who could only shrug. "You know what this means," she said with a smirk, amethyst eyes twinkling. "She's going to be on a sugar rush for hours. There's no way we're getting any studying done tonight."


	2. A Vision of the Past

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

A/N: Thanks for the reviews, I'm glad everyone's liking the story so far :)

Chapter 1: A vision of the Past?

-Rei-

The day had turned out to be rather uneventful, but everyone seemed a bit worn out. Rei suspected it was due to their rather late celebration the night before. As predicted, the blondes had spent most of the night in a haze of sugar-induced hyperactivity. Now, their long overdue study session was nothing short of torture.

Rei tried to concentrate on the book in front of her. Across the table, Ami was absorbed in a text book and completely oblivious to the rest of the room. Makoto had disappeared into the kitchen twenty minutes before to make them a 'light snack'. Minako was asleep on her left side and, to Rei's mild discomfort, had decided to use her shoulder as a pillow. On her other side, Usagi was playing with a lock of her raven hair.

She sighed softly. _How am I supposed to absorb any of this with these two distracting me_, she thought irritable. She cast a longing glance at her book bag, where she'd hidden a new manga. _But if I get it out, the bimbo twins are going to want to read it with me…_

The front door opened and Artemis and Luna strolled in. "How's the studying going?" Artemis asked, jumping lightly onto the table to look at the book Ami was reading.

"Hey guys," Usagi said brightly.

Luna gave her an indulgent smile, but then her eyes widened. "What are you doing?" she gasped loudly, making everyone jump.

Minako stirred and sat up blearily. "Was' wrong?" she asked thickly. Rei looked between Luna's horrified face and Usagi's confused one.

"We're just studying," Rei said slowly. _Well, mostly_.

"But…"

_Why is she staring at me like that? _Rei wondered. "Luna, is something wrong?" she asked mildly.

Artemis gazed at her as well, then frowned. "Your hair…"

_Great, Usagi, what did you do? If there's anything pink in it, I swear… _She reached up to feel the strand the blonde had been playing with. There were two thin braids by her right temple and a third one was partly finished in Usagi's hand. "Braids?" Rei asked in confusion. "That's not so bad, I was expecting something horrible and frilly from the way you reacted," she accused the stunned guardians.

Minako leaned forward to examine her as well. "Aw, Rei," she pinched her cheek, earning a growl and a glare from the miko. "Those look cute on you!"

Ami gave them an annoyed stare. "Is Rei's hairstyle really that big of a deal? We're supposed to be studying," she reminded them.

"I can't study anymore!" Usagi wined.

Rei, however, was watching the two cats. They exchanged a cryptic look before returning their stares to her. "What's wrong?" she demanded, feeling her annoyance grow.

"You just look like… someone else," Artemis said vaguely. "We just came to see how the study session was going."

Rei saw Ami frown at them in confusion. "But-"

"Who's hungry?" Makoto asked as she returned with a tray piled high with food. Usagi scrambled up with a giggle.

Rei stood up with a heavy sigh, followed by Minako. She started to walk around the table and smacked into the blonde. "Sorry," she muttered rubbing her cheek. Minako had a hand over her eye and seemed dazed. "Are you hurt?" Rei asked with a frown. She peeled Minako's hand from her face and inspected the small red mark on her forehead.

"No, I…" Her cerulean eyes widened as she met Rei's concerned gaze. She opened her mouth slightly but no sound came out. "What?" she finally whispered.

Rei cocked her head. _Did I give her a concussion? _"You sure you're okay?" she repeated.

Minako seemed to come back to herself. She stepped back and flashed a V for victory with her fingers. "Of course! I'm starving!" She turned and descended on the tray of food that Usagi was rapidly devouring. Rei shook her head. _What on earth was all that about?_

-Minako-

Minako strolled down the quiet street with Artemis trotting beside her, lost in thought. _That was so strange_, she mused, _I haven't had that kind of déjà vu feeling in a really long time. Something about the way she looked? Or something she said… it felt so familiar… _"Artemis?"

"Hmm?"

"What was that about earlier?" She glanced down at him questioningly.

"What was what about?" He replied without looking at her.

"You and Luna were acting funny when you looked at Rei," she clarified, frowning at him. "You said she reminded you of someone."

They paused at the door to her apartment while she fumbled for her key. "It wasn't important," He muttered as he followed her in. He leapt onto the couch and settled onto a pillow. Minako stopped in front of him and set her hands on her hips. He looked away and then back at her with a heavy sigh. "She looked like the Princess of Mars. She always wore three braids in her hair like that, it just caught us off guard."

Minako sat beside him and watched him with interest. "From the Silver Millennium?" She had recovered quite a few memories of their past lives, but she couldn't remember seeing that. "Why did she always wear them? Was there a reason for three?" She loved hearing stories about that time. _Sometimes it seems like since we aren't fighting any more, the past is all that ties us together. _

Artemis gave her a weary smile. "I thought you were tired?"

She gave him her best puppy dog pout. "Please, Artemis? I know you two don't like to talk about it, but what could a story like this hurt?" She batted her eye lashes at him.

He huffed and stretched his paws in front of him. "Alright," he said finally and she grinned. "The Martian custom was to wear a braid for each person in your heart. It was really the only sign that they cared about other people at all, since they weren't the friendliest people." He chuckled lightly at the memory and Minako leaned closer, anxious to hear more.

"That sounds kind of like Rei now," she joked. "Serious and cranky but a softie deep down."

"Yea," he agreed. "When she first came to the Moon Kingdom she only had two. If I remember right they were for two members of her family on Mars. She added the third later for-" Suddenly he stopped.

"Artemis? For who?" she prompted.

He looked away quickly and hopped to the floor. "I just remembered I have to…" He flicked his tail nervously and looked around. "Luna. I have to talk to her about… I'll see you later." With that he disappeared out the open window.

"Huh?" She stared at the empty window. _What's gotten into those two today? _Giving it up as a bad job she decided to go to bed. She could confront them in the morning.

-That Night-

_She stood in the doorway staring at Rei. Wait, was it her? She was wearing a chain shirt and had a scar down her face. When she turned to face her, Minako realized she'd cut her hair shorter. "Rei, your hair!" she exclaimed as she stepped closer. _

_"How do I look?" Rei asked with a nervous shrug. "It's so long it gets in the way now, so I thought…"_

_Minako smiled and touched the three long braids that hung at the side of her face, opposite the scar that shouldn't be there. _No, wait, _she thought, _I gave her that scar…

_Suddenly they were standing outside facing each other. Rei was in the same armor, but she looked younger. She was glaring fiercely at her as she gasped for breath. Minako brought up a long curved sword and swung down at her. Rei raised her own sword to block her and it was knocked back against her face, splitting open the skin next to her eyebrow. _

_With a roar, Rei tried to lunge at her, forcing her back a few feet. Minako realized that she had a heavy golden chain in her hand, so she swung it at her friend. Rei caught it and sliced at the same time. Her sword came up bloody and Minako gasped. She kicked her away and dropped her sword, clutching at the huge gash in her stomach. _Why are we hurting each other this badly? We're supposed to be friends!_ Without realizing it, she had coiled the chain around her fist. Minako met her cloudy amethyst gaze for a moment then punched her in the face. Rei dropped to her knees, blood pouring down her face. _No! I don't want to hurt her!…

_It was daylight again and she was crouched over Rei, who was lying on her back with a sword next to her in the grass. A sword covered in dark blood. Her face was screwed up in pain. "What did you do to her this time?" She turned to see Artemis glaring accusingly at her. _I didn't, did I? Why would I hurt her like this? No, I wouldn't!…

"No!" She sat up and struggled with the sheets that had tangled around her. She looked around in panic, gasping for breath. _I'm in my room. It was a dream._ She laid back and tried to calm herself down. _It seemed so real._

She stared at the ceiling, trying to hold onto the images. Rei covered in blood, gasping for breath, hurting... _Because of me? _She tried to sort through the dream. They'd been in a bedroom and she was looking at her hair… "She kept the braids," she whispered aloud, sitting up again.

She glanced around and realized it was morning. Fumbling for the clock on her nightstand she saw it was already almost nine. "Good, she'll be awake!" she said as she jumped out of bed and hastily got dressed.

-Rei-

Rei sat gazing into the fire. She kept her breathing steady and tried to focus her thoughts. Something was nagging at her brain. _Something I should know. Something I've forgotten_. _Before Galaxia, before all of it… _Try as she might, however, nothing was appearing to her. She sensed a familiar presence entering the room behind her. _She wants to talk to me, she's really upset about something_, she noted mentally. _I wonder what happened…_

"Minako," she said softly.

There was a gasp and hesitant steps toward her. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt you," she whispered in apology. Rei smiled to herself and stood up, turning to the nervous blonde shuffling from foot to foot behind her. "Hi," she said uncertainly.

"Hey," Rei said as she stretched her back. "What time is it? Aren't you up kind of early?"

Minako giggled. "No, silly, it's nine thirty. Only Usagi needs more sleep than that."

"Mmm." _So I've been in here for four hours? No wonder I'm so stiff_. "So what's up?"

"It's Saturday, no school." Minako said as though that explained everything. Rei raised an eyebrow at her. "Want to go get breakfast somewhere?"

"I guess…"

"Great!" Minako linked an arm through hers and started toward the stairs.

"Minako," Rei planted her feet and tugged the blonde back. "Could I put some clothes on first? I'm still in my pajamas."

Minako quickly raked her eyes over her and giggled. "Oh, yea." Rei rolled her eyes and gestured for her ditsy friend to follow her. Once they reached her room, Minako took a flying leap and landed sprawled on her bed. "Your bed is so comfortable!"

Rei shook her head as she dug jeans and a shirt from her chest of drawers. She glanced at Minako, who was hugging one of her pillows, before quickly changing. "Alright, where did you want to go?"

Minako let go of the pillow and rolled onto her back, putting her hands behind her head. _Why does she have to wear such short clothing? _Rei thought in irritation as she averted her gaze from the exposed skin of her friend's toned stomach. _I shouldn't be thinking like that, she's my best friend!_ she berated herself. It was an all too familiar inner battle. Minako was her leader, her fellow soldier, her best friend… _Kind, caring, beautiful…_

"Rei are you listening?"

"Huh?"

She turned back to find the cerulean eyes watching her in mild concern. Minako sat up and cocked her head. "I'm supposed to be the air head, not you."

"I am not an air head!" Rei snapped, reigning her thoughts in. She caught her friends hand and yanked her to her feet. "Let's go."

Later, they sat quietly at a table outside a small café. Rei sipped her tea quietly and regarded her friend. Minako's gaze was unfocused and there was a slight frown marring her flawless features. "Something wrong?" she asked finally.

Minako's attention snapped back to her and she giggled. "No, I'm fine," she said cheerfully. Rei watched her silently. Her smile slowly changed to an expression of confusion. "Actually I had a weird dream last night."

"About what?"

Minako frowned at the table. "About, well… us." Rei raised an eyebrow. "But not us now, us from before," she continued. Rei sensed the beginning of a ramble. "I guess they're not really us either, but they sort of are since we're them reborn…"

"Minako," she interrupted. Wide blue eyes watched her. "Are you saying you had a dream about us during our past life in the Silver Millennium?"

"Um, yea." She bit her lip. "Except I'm not sure if it was really us."

Rei set her tea down and studied her friend. _She looks tired. She's trying to hide it but something's really bothering her_. "What do you mean?" she prompted.

"Do you remember anything about what we were like to each other back then?" Rei cocked her head and considered. "Like when it was just the two of us, without the Princess around," she clarified.

"Not really," Rei said finally. "Most of the memories I have are… well…" She frowned, trying to think of any actual memories of just the two of them. "Most of them are about us with the Princess, you know, and the things that Luna and Artemis have told us. Or things Setsuna showed us."

"Well in the dream I had, we weren't very nice to each other," Minako finally admitted.

Rei smirked at that. "We've always been a little competitive with each other."

Minako gave her a stricken look. "Not like that, I mean we were fighting. Like, with weapons. It was pretty serious, too. We hurt each other really badly…" her voice got softer and trailed off.

"That doesn't make sense," Rei said immediately. "Why would we hurt each other? We were friends, all of us." Minako seemed genuinely upset by the dream and Rei was unsure of how to make her feel better.

"Artemis was in the dream. He said 'what did you do to her this time'. It sounded like we got into fights and hurt each other a lot." Minako sounded close to tears.

Rei reached across the table and covered one of her hands with her own. "Minako, maybe it was just a bad dream," she suggested gently.

The blonde shook her head, staring at her beseechingly. "You had the braids. The ones Artemis told me about."

"Braids?" Rei stared blankly at her. "You mean yesterday with Usagi?"

"Oh yea!" She suddenly yelled, causing everyone in the vicinity to jump. She blushed guiltily and leaned closer. "I almost forgot, Artemis told me last night why he and Luna were acting so weird. I guess that you, the other you, used to always have braids in your… her…"

"Let's just say they're both me for now," she muttered impatiently.

"He said you always wore braids in your hair, that it was Martian tradition. I guess it reminded them of back then." She cocked her head at her friend. "Do you remember anything about that?" Rei shook her head and Minako grinned mischievously.

"That's too bad. Artemis said that two of them were for people in your family and the third one was someone in the Moon Kingdom who was close to your heart." She grinned and poked her friend in the shoulder. "Do you remember anything about any torrid affairs? Because Artemis wouldn't tell me who it was."

"What?" Rei felt her face flush and fought the urge to drop her head onto the table. "I'm sure nothing like that- stop laughing! I don't have affairs!"

"Rei's having an affair?"

This time, Rei really did smack her forehead on the table as Makoto's laughter joined Minako's.

"You two," Ami scolded from somewhere behind her, "It's none of your business if Rei is seeing someone."

Rei's head shot up to glare at Minako. "I'm not!" she snapped.

"She was before," Minako explained delightedly. "In our past life."

"Really?" Ami asked with sudden interest. "Who was it?"

"Not you too," she growled, rubbing a hand over her face.

"She can't remember," Minako explained sadly. "Neither can I. Do you two remember anything like that?" she asked suddenly.

Despite herself, Rei was curious. She watched them both frown. "Nope," Makoto said finally. "Really I don't remember much beyond protecting the Princess."

"There has to be more than that," Minako insisted. The other two sat down at the table with them, watching the blonde. "I mean, we all lived in the Moon Kingdom together, right?"

"I guess so," Ami said slowly. "At least that's always been the implication when we've been told things about it."

"So it would make sense that we would have lives outside of protecting the Princess, like we do now," Makoto continued the thought. Her emerald eyes grew wistful and a small smile formed. "I wonder if the rest of us had affairs and things like that. My old sempai…" Ami cleared her throat and Makoto gave a shamefaced grin.

"Anyway," Rei interrupted, "if that's true don't you think we would have remembered something about it?"

"Artemis said that Rei always wore braids?" Ami asked, watching Minako intently. She nodded and dark blue eyes narrowed in thought. "I don't remember seeing them. Even when they showed us images of back then."

"Well, there was a lot going on," Rei said uncertainly. She thought back to the early days of fighting the Negaverse, when they'd first found out who Usagi really was. She remembered seeing them fighting, the Prince and Princess on the balcony just before their deaths… "What else was in the dream you had, Minako? Did anything else seem out of place?"

Minako looked guiltily at the table, probably thinking about what she'd mentioned about them fighting. Then her head shot up. "We weren't using our powers! We were fighting with swords and wearing armor!"

Rei had to smile at that, the fukus had always seemed a little impractical for battle attire. "What kind?"

Cerulean eyes took on a slightly vacant expression and a smile began forming as she thought about it. "You had a sword and a knife, and you were wearing a chain-link shirt and thick strappy black leather gloves…"

"Chain mail and leather?" Makoto chuckled. "Sounds kinky."

Ami blushed and swatted her arm, causing her to laugh harder. "Makoto, this is serious," Ami scolded, glaring up at her. Makoto bit her lip and schooled her expression. "Think back. In all the visions we've seen or memories you have, have you ever seen us in anything besides our fukus?"

That was a good point. Rei tried hard to remember, but there wasn't a single instance where they'd looked any different than they did now. "I don't ever remember seeing us with weapons like that either."

"Maybe we should ask Luna and Artemis?" Makoto suggested, frowning down at the table.

Minako shook her head. "Artemis was acting weird last night. He started to tell me, then just stopped and ran off."

"Maybe there's something we're not supposed to know," Rei said slowly. "Remember all that stuff about the time line? They must have a good reason."

"Maybe we should ask Setsuna," Ami said thoughtfully . "She would know if it were something like that. She was there with us, after all."

"Great idea!" Minako cried, leaping to her feet. "I can't believe I didn't think of that!" With that she charged off leaving the others to catch up. _I don't know about this_, Rei thought as she jogged after the impulsive blonde.


	3. Dark Memories

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading, especially if you took the time to review. I love to hear what you think! :)

Chapter 2: Dark Memories

-Minako-

Minako bounded up the steps to the huge, beautiful house the outer senshi shared. She pushed the doorbell, paused for a moment, and pushed it several more times.

"Minako…" Ami and Rei mumbled together. She turned to flash them a V for victory then raised her hand to press it again.

The door swung open before she could and Michiru put a hand on her hip, giving them an amused smile. "Hi, Minako. Hey guys," she waved them inside, shaking her head slightly. "Everything okay?"

Minako ignored the looks her friends gave her and grinned. "Yep, we just came to say hi."

"Where's the fire?" Haruka asked as she emerged from a hallway. She wiped oil covered hands on her pants and grinned. Michiru eyed the black handprints with distaste before tearing her eyes away to the girls clustered in the entry.

"Is Setsuna here?" Makoto asked, glancing around.

The older women exchanged a look. "No, is everything alright?" Michiru studied them pensively.

Minako's face fell and she sighed. "Everything's fine," Ami assured her quickly. "We just wanted to ask her something."

"Well, come in," Michiru shooed them into the spacious living room. "I'll make everyone some tea."

Rei sat down on the end of the couch and Minako plopped down next to her, earning a growl from her serious friend. "You're just a big softie deep down," Minako whispered, hugging one of her arms. Rei grunted and tugged her arm back, giving her a reproachful look. She giggled and scooted closer to her, on the pretense of making room for Ami and Makoto.

Haruka sprawled in an arm chair across from them. "Yea, Setsuna won't be back for a few days. She went to the Time Gate, or Crystal Tokyo or something." She waved a dirty hand in the air vaguely.

Michiru's voice floated out from the kitchen. "Haruka, I hope you changed and washed your hands before touching any of our furniture…" The tall blonde jumped up with a guilty grin and raced out of the room, just as her aqua-haired counterpart emerged from the opposite direction carrying a tray. She glanced around suspiciously as she set it on the coffee table.

Minako grabbed a cup and waited while everyone got settled. "Do you remember anything about our past life?" she asked, deciding to skip the small talk.

Michiru frowned, her cup paused halfway to her lips. She slowly set it down again. "A bit, why?"

"Do you remember anything about us?"

She tilted her head as she considered. "Not really," she said finally, "We weren't really around you that much."

"I remember a few things," Haruka said brightly as she returned and leaned a hip on the arm of Michiru's chair. "You guys were quite the trouble makers back then."

Minako grinned and glanced at her fellow senshi. They were all leaning forward slightly. "Really?" she giggled, "What did we do?"

She sat back with a small smile. "I only remember bits and pieces," she warned before launching into her tale. "I remember once, there was a ball or something and people were coming from all the other planets. You guys snuck down and hid on top of the palace wall to get a sneak peek of the visitors." She grinned at the memory. "Another time, you ran off to Earth and we had to come get you… That one's a little hazy, but I think you got into a fight…"

Minako felt the smile slide off her face. "With each other?" she asked desperately.

"Each other?" Haruka echoed blankly. "No I think it was a youma. The Queen sent us and Artemis to fetch you back." She cocked her head, clearly racking her brain for more stories.

"I remember hearing that you snuck out of the palace once to take the Princess out for her birthday," Michiru said suddenly, a mischievous grin lighting her features. "You went into the village and got her drunk. Luna and Artemis were furious!" She chuckled lightly.

"Luna and Artemis were around us a lot, weren't they?" Ami asked excitedly.

"MmHmm," Haruka nodded, "All the time. They were training you to guard the Princess."

Ami lapsed into thoughtful silence and Makoto jumped in. "Why do you think they don't want us to know any of this?"

Both women's eyes widened in shock and Minako had the urge to smack her friend in the back of the head. "They don't?" Haruka asked weakly.

The four younger girls shifted guiltily and didn't answer. "Well then why on earth are you asking us?" Michiru demanded.

Three of them winced, but Rei just crossed her arms and stared at them calmly. "Minako's been having dreams about the past life. Dreams that don't correlate with what we've been told about the Silver Millennium."

Michiru bit her lip and frowned. "Are you sure you're not just having bad dreams?" she asked gently.

Minako looked away for a moment. The truth was, she'd been having bad dreams for the last two weeks. _Dreams of fighting and dying, but in this life not that one… _"I'm sure," she said firmly. "Rei was wearing chain armor in the dream. And she had a scar here," she drew a line down her face with her finger. "And she had the braids."

Michiru looked away thoughtfully and Haruka's eyes narrowed. _They know something! _"Braids?" Michiru prompted.

Rei grumbled softly and Minako remembered her other pressing question. "Did Rei have an affair in the past life?" she squealed.

"Minako!" Rei snapped immediately, "I do NOT have AFFAIRS!" Minako giggled, but stopped when she saw the pair before them exchange a hasty look.

"She did!" she cried triumphantly. "Who was it?"

Haruka raised an eyebrow at her. "None of you remember?" They shook their heads and the blonde grinned. "Then we probably shouldn't tell you. If you're supposed to remember, you will."

Minako groaned dramatically. "What about the other stuff? The braids and the scar? The armor? Was that real?" She was feeling fairly desperate now. Slowly Michiru nodded. "That is what she looked like… you don't remember ever seeing her like that?"

"Why would they have been fighting with swords?" Ami asked quickly. "And wearing armor? It doesn't make any sense."

Haruka frowned. "What exactly _do_ you remember?"

"Just what we've been shown," Makoto said with a heavy sigh. "Every memory we have and everything we've seen of back then, we were exactly how we are now." Haruka's frown deepened and she scratched her head. Michiru pursed her lips, looking pensive, but neither of them commented.

Minako sighed again, looking to her fellow inner senshi for help. Finally she asked in a small voice, "Did Rei and I like each other? In the dream we were fighting and hurting each other, but we liked each other didn't we?"

To her surprise and annoyance, Haruka burst out laughing. "Oh yea, you liked each other."

Michiru shot her a withering glare that silenced her. "You all liked each other. If you were fighting you might have been seeing a training session."

"But-"

"Unfortunately, we're going to have to cut this short," Michiru said abruptly as she stood up. "We have to go pick up Hotaru." She started ushering them toward the door. "But come by any time girls," she smiled brightly and shut the door.

-That Night-

_Rei was lying on her back on a small cot, sleeping fitfully. Minako studied her from a nearby perch. Most of her torso was wrapped in thick bandages and another was wrapped on her upper arm. A blood soaked rag was tied to her face. _I did this to her_. Rei shivered and grimaced in pain. _I didn't mean to hurt her this badly…

_Rei was sitting on a bed, her face pale and drawn. Minako sat beside her. "You still look sick…" She reached a hand up to feel her forehead and Rei flinched away as though she'd been burned. Minako pulled her hand back and looked away. _She hates me…

_Minako was standing behind Rei with her hands on her shoulders. Usagi was looking at both of them coldly. _No, not Usagi, Princess Serenity_, a voice in her mind reminded her. "Mars," the Princess snapped, "I want to talk to you about last night." Rei flinched beneath her hands and Minako felt a flare of rage toward the Princess. _But Usagi isn't like that… We loved the Princess, we gave our lives for her…

_She had the Princess by the front of her dress and shoved her roughly against the wall. "Is that how that thing knew where we were?" Usagi's terrified eyes began to fade as her vision blurred. _What am I doing? Why would I hurt her? I wouldn't…

She sat up with a gasp, heart pounding almost painfully. "Rei," she whispered. "Usagi… They hated me. She was afraid of me." She leaned forward and buried her face against her knees as the first sob shook her body.

-Rei-

Rei sat with her friends at the low table in the living room of the shrine. She was trying to concentrate on her homework, but her eyes kept drifting to the unusually subdued blonde a few feet away. Minako had barely spoken in the three hours she'd been there. Her eyes were bloodshot and had dark shadows under them. She also seemed skittish around Usagi and herself. She glanced toward Usagi, who was watching Minako in concern. Makoto seemed restless as well. The only one who seemed able to concentrate was Ami.

Makoto looked up from her book and caught Rei's eye. A moment later she yawned loudly, finally getting Ami's attention. "Tired?" she asked in mild concern, "What time is it?"

Usagi looked between Rei and Minako then stood up and winked. She made a show of stretching. "I can't study any more," she whined.

Minako looked up at them listlessly. Ami had a look of dawning comprehension as she closed her book and sat up. "I think we can call it a night," she said easily. "Walk me home?" she smiled up at Makoto, who nodded.

"I'll walk with you guys, my house is on the way," Usagi added as she packed her things quickly. She moved around the table to Rei and gave her a quick hug. "Good luck," she whispered before pulling away. Rei smiled at her then glanced back at Minako, who was watching her looking stricken.

"See you guys later," Rei called after them. Minako started to gather her things and didn't look up as Rei approached. "Can we talk?" she asked softly.

Minako paused briefly, then continued packing her things into her school bag. She slung it over her shoulder and turned toward her friend. She smiled, but wouldn't quite meet her eye. "I'm fine, don't worry," she said airily as she turned to go.

Rei caught her wrist and gently pulled her back. "Minako, please, you're my best friend. I want to help you." The blonde bit her lip and looked at the floor. "Please, just tell me what's going on," she pleaded.

"I had another dream last night." It came out a choked whisper.

Rei sighed and plucked at the strap of her bag, taking it and slinging it over her own shoulder. "Come on," she beckoned her friend to follow as she headed through the shrine to her bedroom. Silently, she pulled a tee shirt and shorts from a drawer and handed them to the blonde. "You're staying here tonight."

Minako stared at the clothes in her hand and finally lifted her gaze. Rei almost gasped when their eyes met. Her bright blue eyes, usually sparkling and full of life, looked flat and dead and full of pain. Impulsively, she pulled the smaller girl close and hugged her. Minako stiffened, then relaxed into her embrace. She released her and stepped back, studying her intently. Then she pulled out another set of pajamas. "Get changed," she ordered gently before leaving for the bathroom.

When she returned, Minako was sitting forlornly on the side of her bed. She sat next to her and waited patiently. Finally the blonde sighed and turned to her. "I hurt you, again," she said hoarsely. "You were in the hospital because of me. You hated me." Her breath hitched and Rei hesitantly wrapped an arm around her waist. "And Usagi, the Princess, she hated me too. I hurt her and she was afraid of me," she admitted brokenly.

Rei turned to face her, placing a finger under her chin to lift her face. "I could never hate you, Minako, and neither could Usagi," she said firmly. "We loved the Princess back then and she loved us and we were all friends, just like now."

Minako dropped her head, burying her face against her friend's neck. Rei wrapped her other arm around the shaking girl. "Come on, you'll feel better once you get some sleep."

She pulled back the blankets and allowed Minako to get comfortable before she slipped in beside her. The blonde turned on her side and gave her a watery stare. "What if it's real?" she whispered. "What if they lied to us about what happened back then?"

Rei smiled softly at her. "Usagi and I would never hate you," she reassured her. Slowly the blue eyes fluttered closed and her breathing eased. Once she was sure she was asleep, Rei let herself relax. '_What if they lied to us?' _She'd been wondering the same thing. Nothing was adding up and it was becoming increasingly obvious that the others were covering something up. _Luna and Artemis are going to have some things to explain in the morning,_ she promised wearily as she drifted off to sleep.

-Later That Night-

Rei woke up suddenly, alarmed. The blonde beside her was thrashing and whimpering in her sleep. "Minako?" She touched her arm gently, but it had no effect. She made a strangled sound and a scatter of tears leaked from her tightly closed eyes. Rei grasped her shoulders and shook her roughly. "Minako, wake up!"

Minako's eyes flew open and her cerulean orbs darted around in panic. She was still crying and panting. "Minako, it's okay," Rei soothed. "You're safe, you're right here with me."

Slowly the sobs subsided and she felt her relax, but her body continued to tremble violently. "Rei?" she whispered.

"I'm right here, Minako," she said calmly, but inside she was shaken. _Did she have another nightmare about the past life?_ she wondered. "Do you want to tell me about it?" she asked softly.

"It was Galaxia," she whispered brokenly, cuddling against her. Rei wrapped her arms around her and rested her chin on top of her head, running her fingers through the silky blonde hair. She didn't need to say any more. Images of their most recent death and resurrection were fresh in her own mind as well.

"It's all alright now," she promised, continuing to slowly run her fingers through her hair. She felt Minako nod against her neck and press herself even closer. "I'm right here, try to go back to sleep." She kept stroking her hair and back until the shivering subsided and Minako's breathing became deep and even.

-The Next Day-

To Rei's supreme annoyance, Luna and Artemis were nowhere to be found. She and Minako had gone straight to Usagi's house but the blonde had sleepily informed them that she hadn't seen Luna since Artemis had shown up the other night.

Rei brooded silently as the three of them walked to their usual meeting place. When they arrived, however, her own dark thoughts were pushed firmly from her mind. Makoto and Ami were sitting on a low wall with their heads together, apparently deep in conversation.

"Hey guys," Minako called, waving at them when they looked up. As the three approached them, Rei noticed that Ami's face was pale and strained. Minako stopped in front of them, apparently noticing it too. "Are you alright?"

Ami looked up at their approach and forced a smile. "I'm fine," she reassured them, "I just didn't sleep very well." They all nodded in quiet understanding.

Usagi moved forward and hugged her. "It's alright, Ami," she said softly. "I think about it too, but it's all over now. We just get to be normal girls for a while."

Ami met Rei's eyes over the princess's shoulder and the miko instantly understood. She hadn't dreamed about Galaxia, she'd dreamt of the Silver Millennium.


	4. Puzzle Pieces

Disclaimer:I do not own Sailor Moon.

A/N: Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing!

Chapter 3: Puzzle Pieces

-Rei-

Rei trudged up the walk, away from T. A. She was beginning to resent the fact that she didn't go to the same school as the others. She didn't like being away from them when something was wrong. She made the trek to their high school on autopilot, lost in thought.

When she reached their usual tree in the courtyard, she was surprised to see a familiar blonde head and red bow sitting with the other two. She jogged the last few steps up to them. "Why aren't you at practice?" she asked as she sat down between Minako and Ami.

Minako shrugged. "I thought we should talk about this as soon as possible. We were just waiting for you."

Rei nodded, shifted to lean back on her hands and crossed her ankles, gazing at them. Then she frowned as she realized what was missing. "Where's Usagi?"

"Still at cheerleading practice," Makoto said guiltily. Rei's frown deepened and Makoto held up a hand defensively. "I know, but just wait until Ami tells you about her dream. We're not sure if we should tell her or not."

Rei bit her lip, debating. She didn't like the idea of keeping things from Usagi. She glanced at Minako for confirmation. Her cerulean eyes were troubled, but she nodded. "Let's hear what she has to say and go from there."

"Well," Ami began, leaning forward slightly, "I think that talking to Haruka and Michiru triggered it. We were on a stone wall with Usagi and watching people from different planets coming up to the palace. We were talking about never seeing anyone from Earth before, but when we saw them it was… It was Beryl and the Shittenou, but Mamoru was with them."

"I suppose that makes sense," Minako pointed out, "He was the Prince of Earth and they were from there as well."

"Yes," Ami agreed simply. "Beryl looked right at us, where we were hiding, then everything sort of shifted. We were on a balcony. It looked just like the one from our vision years ago."

"So that part was real," Rei muttered, half to herself. Ami glanced at her and she motioned for the bluenette to continue.

"Well, Mamoru was there, er… Prince Endymion, I guess. We were fighting with him, telling him to stay away from the Princess." Ami looked stricken at this. "He didn't seem like himself. He was… mean. And his eyes were so cold. It was nothing like he is now, and nothing like how he looked when we saw that vision of them dancing."

"None of this makes sense!" Makoto growled, slamming her fist into her open palm. "We weren't any different then, neither was he. We've known that as long as we've been Senshi!"

Ami placed a soothing hand on her arm. "I'm beginning to think Rei's idea of the timeline was right. This has got to be some sort of vision of an alternate universe or something. Nothing else makes sense." Ami's communicator beeped, making all of them jump. She grinned sheepishly as she dug it out of her bag. "It's just Hotaru," she reassured them, holding it up so they could see.

Rei turned to the others as Ami stood to take the call. "So what do you think?"

"I don't know," Makoto said heavily. "This whole thing is just a little too much. We're supposed to be done with all of this, at least for a while…"

"I know," Minako said bracingly. "But it doesn't seem to be a threat, really."

"It's mostly just confusing and kind of annoying," Rei added. Minako cocked her head suddenly and stared at her. "Yes?"

"You haven't had any dreams like this, have you?" she asked carefully. Rei shook her head. "That's funny, I would think you'd have them more than us, being psychic and all."

Makoto perked up and stared at her as well. "Hey, that's right!" she said indignantly.

Rei rolled her eyes at this. "You guys know it doesn't work that way," she said flatly.

Minako pursed her lips, thinking hard. "What about a fire reading?" she suggested hopefully.

Rei flicked her gaze between them and sighed. "I've tried," she said softly, "I couldn't see anything." She felt a slight twinge of guilt for lying, even if it was to protect them. She saw the disappointment in their eyes and looked away. "I'm sorry."

Minako scooted closer and placed a hand on her shoulder. "It's alright, Rei. Maybe we could try it together or something. We'll think of a way." Rei reached up impulsively and laid her hand over Minako's slightly smaller one.

"Minako!" They jumped away from each other and twisted around to find Usagi jogging up to them, pompoms and pigtails blowing behind her. "How did you beat me out here?" She flopped down next to the other blonde.

"I, uh…didn't go to practice," she admitted truthfully.

"Are you alright?" Usagi cried in alarm. She reached across to feel her forehead, then grabbed her wrist and started feeling for a pulse.

Rei chuckled at the display. "Odango, don't you think we'd notice if Minako didn't have a pulse?"

Usagi pouted and stuck her tongue out at her. "I'm just trying to help," she whined. "No one complained when _she _was nursing them back to health!" she added, pointing an accusing finger at Minako.

"Actually, we complained a lot," Makoto pointed out with a grin. "Especially Rei, she got the brunt of it."

Rei blushed slightly at this. Really, she hadn't minded Minako's heavy-handed attempts to help her. _Even though she ruined my stereo and spilled soup on me, it was sweet that she tried… I just wish I could have seen that nurse's outfit… _She shook her head, forcing the image away. She looked around and realized that they were all staring at her. She could feel herself blushing more, but was saved from explaining as Ami rejoined the conversation.

"That was Hotaru," she explained as she picked up her book bag. "She's going to study with us for a bit. She's got high school entrance exams coming up in a couple months." They all chuckled at their own memories of those months.

"Alright then, let's get going!" Minako yelled as she leapt to her feet. Rei smiled to herself as she stood to follow.

-Minako-

Minako drummed her pencil lightly on a mostly blank page of her notebook, thinking hard. When the dreams had only been haunting her, she'd been able to make excuses. Now that Ami was having them too, however, she was sure there was a deeper meaning. Artemis refused to tell her anything, now Haruka and Michiru as well. Her mind cast back to Setsuna, but there had been no word on her whereabouts since their visit.

"Minako," Ami's tense voice brought her out of her reverie. She looked up and found the smaller girl watching her from across the low table. She raised her eyebrows in question and Ami sighed. "Could you please stop doing that with your pencil? Just use your fingers, it's quieter."

"Sorry," she mumbled, setting the implement far enough away not to be tempting. She smiled at the bluenette and received an exasperated roll of azure eyes.

"You know, you could always use it to write your homework," Rei grumbled from beside her. She turned to pout at the miko but her amethyst eyes were locked on the tome resting on her knees. She sighed and glanced at Makoto, but she was reading a page carefully, using her finger to follow the words. Finally her eyes wandered to Usagi, her last hope. To her amazement, the blonde was scribbling furiously with her tongue poking slightly between her teeth.

"Usagi?" she called softly. There was no response. She debated, then picked up her pencil, flipping it so she could use the eraser end to poke the other girl. She'd just started to lean across when a knock on the door startled her. The pencil clattered from her fingers and she jumped to her feet to answer the door.

She'd only managed to take one step, however, when her toe caught on the leg of the table. She sprawled forward, arms flailing uselessly, and landed in a heap in Rei's lap. The thick book dug painfully into her ribs and Rei let out an exasperated sigh. She shifted the book out from between them and straightened. "Minako…"

"Sorry, Rei." She twisted so she could look up at her friend and flashed her a dazzling smile. Rei huffed and shifted her legs slightly but Minako was too happy to finally have her attention to move. She reached up and pinched her cheek playfully. "So serious," she teased.

Rei scowled down at her and started to stand up, scooping the other girl up with her. Minako could only let out a startled squeak as Rei picked her up bridal style, then dumped her on the couch like a sack of potatoes. She chuckled as Rei turned away and strode toward the door.

Rei returned with a shyly smiling Hotaru in tow. "Hey guys," she said quietly. She sat down at the end of the table between Ami and Rei.

Minako studied her as she began unpacking her books. She'd grown a lot in the last year, now she was slightly taller than Ami. They'd estimated her age to be about fourteen and she seemed to be aging at a normal rate for now. Her dark purple eyes looked tired and Minako wondered if the younger girl had been sleeping. Suddenly she sat bolt upright. "Hotaru!"

Everyone jumped and Minako grinned sheepishly as the girl picked up the book she'd just dropped. "Yes, Minako?" she said warily.

"Hotaru," she said again, feeling almost ecstatic at the realization.

Dark eyes narrowed in confusion. "Um, yes?" she said again.

Minako noticed that she'd gotten the attention of the others now as well. She smiled brightly. "You were around during the Silver Millennium, weren't you?"

The room got silent as all eyes turned to her. She bit her lip and looked down at the table, frowning slightly. "The end of it, yes," she said softly.

_Oh, yea, _Minako thought belatedly. _Oh, well, it's worth a shot_. "Did you ever meet any of us? You know, before…" she gestured vaguely.

Hotaru cocked her head and studied her intently. "Why do you want to know?" she asked finally.

"Huh?" That wasn't the response Minako had expected.

"Well, you've known me for quite a while now and this is the first time you've ever asked me anything like this," she reasoned, keeping her gaze locked on the older girl. "So I'm wondering why you suddenly want to know."

"We just want to clarify a few things," Ami supplied eagerly. Hotaru turned to her and gave her a questioning look. "Things like, what did we look like or what kind of weapons did we have."

"Oh." She relaxed visibly at that. "Sure," she gave them a small smile. "I met all of you during the ball, the night the Earth attacked."

"You mean the Negaverse?" Makoto asked.

Something unreadable flashed in her eyes for a moment, but it was gone too quick to identify. "Yea, Metallia and Beryl and everything," she said quickly. They nodded and urged her to continue. "You all had your armor on. It marked you as the members of the Princess's royal guard."

"What did it look like?" Ami pressed, her eyes shining with excitement.

Hotaru looked past them, thinking back. "Plate armor with long cloaks. Yours was silver and blue. Lets see…" she tapped a finger to her lip, frowning. "Rei's was black and red, Makoto's was bronze and green, Minako's was gold and orange." Minako made a face and Hotaru chuckled softly. "It looked good, don't worry."

"They had armor?" Usagi asked in confusion. Minako bit her lip. In her excitement, she'd forgotten that they hadn't explained things to her yet. They waited on baited breath for her to continue. "What about me? I bet it was really pretty, maybe pink or white…" She was slightly starry eyed as she tried to picture herself.

"No, Princess," Hotaru laughed, "You didn't have armor on. You had a really beautiful gold and white gown."

"We've seen that before," Rei said suddenly, sitting up straight. "Her and Mamoru on the balcony." Her eyes met Minako's meaningfully. _That was real, too, then_ she decided.

"What about weapons?" Makoto asked, leaning closer to Ami to hear more. Minako noted a blush race across Ami's cheeks and catalogued it in her brain for later analysis.

"Your regular weapons?" Hotaru raised an eyebrow at her. They all nodded. "You had your serrated staff and javelins."

"Cool," Makoto replied, sitting back and smiling. "I sound tough."

Ami smiled indulgently. "What about me?"

"Long knives and your rifle thing."

"Rifle thing?" Ami cocked her head slightly.

Hotaru smirked at the table. "It was never really explained to me, but I guess it shot energy or something. I remember them telling me that you shot a youma with it and there was nothing left but a puddle." Ami paled at that. Hotaru seemed to notice, because she added, "You made it yourself."

"Really?" She smiled brightly. "Wow."

"Even back then, you were the smart one," Makoto joked, nudging her with her shoulder.

"So Rei had a sword and knife, and I had a chain and curvy sword right?" Minako finished for her.

"Scimitar," Hotaru corrected. "And, yes." Then she frowned and looked around at them. "Why are you asking me about this, if you already remember?"

They all looked away guiltily but Usagi spoke up before they could. "I don't remember any of this," she stated in confusion. "Why would you need weapons if you had your powers? Shouldn't you have weapons now?"

Now Hotaru was glaring at them suspiciously. Minako sighed heavily. "We've been having weird dreams about back then," she explained, pointing to herself and Ami. "Memories that don't make sense."

"Just you two?" Hotaru asked in surprise. "Why?"

"We don't know," Ami sighed. "It just started a few days ago."

"That's strange, did something trigger them or did they just start out of nowhere?" she wondered, looking between them.

Minako frowned, thinking back. Her dreams had first started the night she'd talked to Artemis, and they'd started… "After the braids!" she exclaimed, looking at Usagi.

Her blue eyes widened as all eyes turned to her. "Braids?" she repeated quietly. "You mean, that night we were studying?"

"Yes!" Minako exclaimed as another piece of the puzzle fell into place. "When we stood up Rei and I ran into each other and the way she was looking at me, I knew it'd happened before! Then I asked Artemis about it and that's when they started! Why did you put them there?"

Usagi was biting her lip and frowning. Minako had the urge to jump across the table and shake her. _She has to explain! It's all starting to make sense!_

"Princess, what is it?" Hotaru asked gently, leaning forward.

"Usagi?" Rei prompted, watching her with concern.

She raised tear filled eyes to the miko. "I had a dream about you." Her voice was almost a whisper.

Rei moved around Minako and sat down beside Usagi, draping an arm around her shoulders. The rest of them crowded closer, hoping to comfort their distressed Princess. "What happened?" she urged softly.

"You were dying," she said in a choked voice. "You were dying in my arms at the foot of Galaxia's throne."

Everyone stiffened at that. "But that really happened," Rei said in a tense whisper. Minako looked up at her in shock. She'd never heard this part. She had no idea what her Princess and her second in command had gone through after she'd died.

"I know," she sniffed. "Then everything shifts and we're on some sort of stone balcony. It's white and gray and crumbling, but in the sky I can see the Earth instead of the moon. You're dying in my arms again, but you're wearing different clothes. I guess it was the armor you were talking about," she added, giving Hotaru a watery smile.

"But in the dream, you have three braids and I brush them out of your face and ask you who the third one's for. You smile and say it's for your heart. Then, you cough blood and I wake up." Her voice was almost a whisper at this point and they had to strain to hear it. "It's always the same."

"That's awful," Makoto mumbled, scooting closer to her other side and taking her hand.

She nodded miserably. "I guess that's why I wanted to put the braids in your hair," she explained, turning to Rei. "I thought if I focused on the good part of the dream, it would go away."

"Did it help?" Rei asked quietly.

She smiled sadly. "No. It's still the same, every night since Galaxia."

Minako could feel tears welling in her own eyes and tried to blink them away. "Why didn't you tell us?" she asked, touching Usagi's free hand.

Usagi just smiled at her. "I suppose the same reason you didn't tell me about yours," she replied, rubbing her thumb along the other girl's cheek. "I didn't want to worry you."

-Rei-

Rei leaned back against the wall, stretching her feet out under the table. Their homework lay forgotten on top of it, but even Ami wasn't worried about it at the moment. For the last hour, they'd been trading stories and ideas, trying to piece together the past they'd forgotten.

Minako and Usagi were on either side of her, both leaning on her slightly. Their presence was comforting. Across from her, Makoto had her arm draped across the couch cushion behind Ami and Hotaru was leaning her head on Ami's shoulder.

"The thing is," Hotaru continued, "I wasn't around any of you in the end. I was with Setsuna-mama and the Queen. We were the last resort if… when…" she trailed off.

"That must have been what happened, though," Minako said, "since the braids and armor were the same."

"I wonder where the rest of us were, though?" Makoto mused. "Shouldn't we have been there, too?"

"Maybe we couldn't be," Ami said thoughtfully. "Maybe we were already gone and Rei was the last one left, like with Galaxia."

Rei felt Minako shiver next to her and shifted so she could wrap an arm around the other girl's shoulder. Minako leaned into her and let out a small contented sigh that made her heart soar. Then she frowned. _This is not the time to be thinking like that,_ she mentally scolded herself, _she's my best friend and she's upset. What the hell kind of twisted-_

"Rei?" Her eyes snapped to Hotaru, who was watching her expectantly.

"Huh?" she responded dumbly.

"Do you remember anything like that?" Ami asked, "Or anything at all about that time?"

She deflated slightly, hating to disappoint them. "No. And before you ask, I already tried a fire reading and it… it didn't work." She dropped her gaze to the table and sighed. It had worked in a way, but the visions she'd seen wouldn't help them now and the experience was one she didn't want to repeat any time soon.

"It's alright Rei," Usagi said softly. She reached out and twined the fingers of her free hand through her own. "No one expects you to figure it out on your own." She felt Minako nod against her shoulder.

"What I don't understand," Makoto growled, "is why we aren't supposed to know any of this. I mean, it's not a pretty story but why keep it secret?"

"Who doesn't want you to know?" Hotaru asked, leaning forward to look at her.

Makoto bit her lip guiltily, then scowled. "Everyone. Luna and Artemis have been avoiding us, Haruka and Michiru practically kicked us out the other day for asking questions…"

"Really?" Hotaru seemed genuinely surprised. Apparently she wasn't part of the cover up. "I wonder why?"

"They didn't tell you not to tell us?" Makoto wondered.

Hotaru smirked at her. "If they had, I wouldn't have told you anything." Beside Rei, Minako huffed quietly.

"You were only around us the last day," Ami pointed out. "Maybe the thing we're not supposed to know happened before that. Maybe it's something you don't know either."

Hotaru frowned at that. "I don't know why they would keep something secret from _me_." Rei suppressed a chuckle. This was the closest she'd ever seen the serious girl come to pouting.

"I'm sure they're not," Usagi reassured her. "Maybe it's just something that wouldn't matter to you." This seemed to pacify the younger girl and she shot a grateful smile at the blonde.

A knock on the door startled them all and a moment later, it flew open and Haruka burst in grinning. "Studying hard, kids?" she asked cheerily as she strode in.

Michiru followed more demurely and gave them questioning looks after she surveyed the room. "You all look awfully serious," she noted. Haruka narrowed her eyes at them, apparently just noticing the same thing.

Hotaru grinned and jumped up to hug them. "Hi Michiru-mama, Haruka-papa how was your day off?" They both smiled down at her and returned the hug, but shot suspicious looks over her head at the inner senshi.

"Ready to go, Squirt?" Haruka asked, rubbing her head affectionately.

She nodded and grinned. "Just let me get my things together." She returned to the table, giving them a conspiratorial wink as she stuffed her books back in her bag. She turned to go, then hesitated and moved to kneel down in front of Usagi. "Sleep well, Princess," she said softly, hugging the blonde tightly. "Don't worry, they'll protect you."


	5. Through the Night

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon

A/N: Thanks to everyone reading, especially if you left a review! Hopefully this chapter answers a few questions :) Enjoy!

Chapter 4: Through The Night

-Minako-

Minako cracked her eyes open, unsure what had woken her. She quietly pulled the zipper of her sleeping bag so she could sit up. They'd all spent the night at the shrine since none of them wanted to be alone. She looked down at her sleeping companions. Usagi was sprawled beside her, snoring softly and completely dead to the world. Beside her, Ami had her back to them and was cuddled close to Makoto's shoulder.

She sighed softly and twisted to check Rei on her other side but her bag was empty. Minako placed a hand lightly on her pillow and found it cold. Wherever Rei had gone, she'd been gone for a while.

Grumbling to herself, she stood up and made her way carefully to the door. The chill night air hit her as soon as she stepped outside and she shivered. Minako was just about to go back in and grab a blanket when a flickering light caught her attention. The door to the fire room was open a crack and she knew exactly where to find her friend.

Sliding the door open as quietly as possible, she slipped inside. Rei was on her knees in front of the sacred fire. For a moment, Minako just watched her, taking in her sleep-tousled hair and her stiff-backed posture. Then she noticed something unusual and took a tentative step closer. The lean muscled shoulders were trembling. She inched closer until she could see her friend's profile and frowned. Instead of the usual calm mask, she was grimacing in pain and tears were leaking from tightly closed eyes.

"Rei?" she called tentatively. She'd never seen anything like this happen before and wasn't really sure how to help. At the sound of her voice, the miko's whole body twitched and she let out a soft whimper. "Rei!" She dropped to her knees beside her and wrapped her arms around the shaking shoulders. "Rei, come back," she pleaded, hugging her tightly. "Come back to me."

With a gasp, Rei stiffened in her arms and her eyes shot open, looking wild and terrified. Minako kept a tight hold on her, stroking her hair just as Rei had done for her the other night. After a few moments, the other girl melted into her embrace. "I'm sorry," she murmured quietly. "I couldn't stop it. I tried, there was nothing I could do. I saw it and didn't do anything. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…"

"Rei," Minako tried to keep her voice even, even though her friend's rambling muttering was scaring her. "Rei, it's alright. Shh, it's okay."

Finally she quieted, resting limply against the blonde. Minako kept stroking her hair and talking softly to her until she straightened slightly and looked up at her. Her amethyst eyes were haunted and Minako wanted more than anything to take away the pain she saw in them. "Let's go get some air," she said quietly. She stood and caught Rei's hand, leading her out to the courtyard.

She sat down in the grass and pulled the other girl down with her, then fell back with her hands behind her head. She contemplated the sky between the cherry blossoms for a few minutes before looking over at Rei. She was hunched forward with her knees drawn up to her chest and her arms wrapped tightly around them.

Minako forced herself to look back up at the sky. She knew that the other girl would talk when she was ready and not before. Instead, she scanned the starry patches, looking for her favorite bit of sky. A slow smile formed when she found the tiny red dot of Mars. Years ago, she'd borrowed one of Ami's astronomy books to find out more about her own planet. Along with that, she'd stumbled across information about Mars and how occasionally the two planets were right next to each other when viewed from Earth. For a reason she couldn't quite understand at the time, the information had warmed her heart. Since then, she'd watch the stars on sleepless nights, picking out the two planets and watching their slow progress across the sky.

A soft rustle beside her indicated that Rei was shifting positions. "What are you looking at?" she asked close to her ear, causing a small shiver to run down Minako's back.

She turned to find that Rei had stretched out beside her on the grass and was watching her with her head propped up on an elbow. She looked calmer, which Minako considered a small blessing. Minako grinned and pointed upward. "Your home planet."

Rei chuckled softly and moved to lie on her back as well. "Where's yours?"

Minako pointed up again, this time slightly to the left. "Behind the leaves, there."

"Huh…" she breathed softly. "It's kind of nice to think of them like that. I always used to try and remember what Mars was like, or the Moon Kingdom. I was always so sure that it was a perfect time…"

Minako turned slightly to look at her friend and found her frowning slightly at the sky. She felt across the grass until she found Rei's hand and caught it in her own. She heard her inhale sharply and smiled inwardly.

Rei squeezed her hand slightly before speaking again. "Minako I… I lied before." The raven turned her head to look at her sadly.

"About what?" Minako managed to force out, trying to keep her face impassive.

"I told you I couldn't see anything when I did the fire reading before," she said quietly, eyes locked with Minako's. "I said it didn't work but... after you told me about your dreams, it did."

Minako considered the quiet admission. She had to know, even though a part of her dreaded the answer. "What did you see?"

Rei's eyes took on a far away look, and she knew the other girl was calling up the images again. "Fire," she whispered. "The palace was burning down around me. There were shadows everywhere, some kind of youma but there were hundreds. Everyone was dying, I could smell burning flesh and smoke and blood." She took a shaky breath and met Minako's eyes again. "All of you were dead, so was the Princess. It was worse than anything I've ever seen, than anything we've ever dealt with…"

She trailed off, blinking back tears and Minako pulled her close impulsively. "I'm sorry," she whispered into raven hair. Rei wrapped an arm around her waist and held her close, burying her face against her chest. "Is that what you saw again tonight?" Rei nodded against her neck and she wrapped her arms tighter around her.

It actually made sense. A horrific ending for this nightmare version of their past lives that they never knew about. She wondered if that was what the others had been hiding. Imaging a peaceful ending where everything just disappeared into darkness was so much more comforting than what Rei had just described. Somehow, though, she knew the dark and terrifying version was the real one.

"Rei? Minako?" Usagi's voice came floating to them from the direction of the shrine.

They reluctantly disentangled themselves and stood. Minako gave her a shy smile and Rei pulled her into a tight hug. "Thanks, Mina," she whispered, placing a light kiss at her temple.

"Over here, Odango," Rei called out as she jogged toward the shrine.

Minako stood rooted to the spot, staring after her. "Mina," she repeated quietly to herself. The nickname had triggered the ghost of another memory. She tried to pin it down, but was only left with a lingering warmth in her chest. _It wasn't all bad_, she decided, _we just haven't remembered the good parts yet_. She held onto the thought, and the name, as she followed the path back to the shrine.

-Rei-

When Rei reached the porch, Usagi was wringing her hands and pacing. "What's wrong?" she demanded, hurtling the step and catching her by the shoulders.

"It's getting worse," she said tearfully, cuddling against the soldier.

"What is?" Rei wondered, wrapping an arm around her and peering over her head into the open doorway.

Minako jogged up to them, her expression switching from confusion to serious as she caught sight of their distressed Princess. "What happened?" she demanded, locking cerulean eyes with Rei's. She could see Venus blazing behind them; her friend was in leader mode.

"Makoto's having them too," Ami informed them from the doorway. All three turned to face her. She had her glasses in her hand and was rubbing her eyes with the other.

"The dreams," Usagi clarified, pressing close between Rei and Minako. They caught each other's gaze behind her and a silent understanding passed. They wouldn't tell the others about the visions in the fire. At least not yet.

The four of them returned to the shrine living room to find Makoto sitting on the couch, staring at nothing and frowning. She glanced up when they came in, but her smile looked more like a grimace. They sat in a loose circle, Usagi and Ami on the couch with Makoto and Minako perched on the arm of Rei's chair.

"You were right," Makoto said after a moment. She looked across to Minako, who shifted slightly. Makoto sighed and dropped her gaze back to the floor. "We didn't like each other. We fought and hurt each other, we were mean to each other. All of it."

Usagi shook her head. "No, that can't be right," she insisted, looking at each of them in turn. "You protected me, all of you. And we were all friends just like now."

"What exactly happened in your dream," Minako asked carefully.

She frowned and bit her lip. "We were all in a room waiting for the Princess, I think. We were all tense and snapping at each other, then all four of us started fighting. Artemis and Luna broke it up. You could just see from the way we looked at each other and talked to each other that we weren't anything close to friends." She sighed heavily and looked down at her hands. "Then we were training. Luna and Artemis were yelling about how we always hurt each other and couldn't be trusted with real weapons." She cast a stricken look at Ami. "They were talking to us," she said sadly, gesturing between them. "She said she wasn't going to give us another chance to try and kill each other."

Usagi frowned, looking between them. "There must be more to it than that," she said firmly. Her four guards looked up at her hopefully. Her sky blue eyes were blazing with determination. "You're remembering all of these bad things, but it couldn't have been all bad. There had to have been something good that gave us something to fight for or why would they have bothered giving us another chance?"

Rei sat back, thinking. "That's actually a really good point," Minako said in a slightly awed voice. The others nodded. "If we all hated each other and all that, Queen Serenity wouldn't have bothered with any of it. We just need to remember the rest!" She stood and did a V for victory pose, causing them all to laugh.

"You know, tomorrow's Friday," Usagi mused, grinning at them. "Let's get out of here for the weekend!"

"That's a great idea," Makoto agreed enthusiastically. She raised an eyebrow at Ami.

"I suppose we could all use a little vacation," she said slowly. Then she straightened and fixed them with a beady stare. "As long as we finish all of our homework tonight." This was met with assorted groans and giggles.

Rei smirked and stood up. "That sounds like a good idea." She glanced out the window, noting the steadily lightening sky. "I've got to get started on my chores before school."

"I'll help you," Minako volunteered, grinning. Rei suppressed a groan and gestured for the blonde to follow her. "I have extra clothes here anyway."

"We should probably go and get ready for school," Makoto said, standing as well. "See you two later." They gathered their things and left, all of them in a better mood than they'd been in for days.

-After School-

The five of them sat at the low table at the shrine. For once all of them were working quietly, diligently trying to finish their work so they could have their promised vacation. Makoto and Usagi were both leaning close to Ami, listening as she explained their science assignment.

Rei glanced over at Minako, who was frowning in concentration as she read her text. Her mind cast back to the night before and the visions she'd seen. They'd been popping into her mind all day and she was getting thoroughly sick of it. Instead, she let her gaze travel over her friend. She followed the perfect profile of her face and down her arm to linger on her hand as her fingers drummed slowly on the edge of the book. She wondered if those hands had been calloused and battle hardened once. Her gaze traveled to the curve of her shoulder and her back as she leaned forward slightly, trying to picture her in golden armor, with an orange cloak thrown over her shoulder. She smirked to herself. Hotaru was right, in theory the combination sounded horrible but she could see it working on the Venusian goddess.

"What's up?" Rei started and her eyes jumped guiltily back to her best friend's face. She blushed when she caught the teasing grin and sparkling blue eyes. Usually this situation was reversed where she would catch Minako staring at her and make a scathing comment before returning to whatever she'd been doing. Minako just grinned wider. "See something you like?"

Rei choked on the air and couldn't form words as she felt her face heating up even more. "I was just…"

"Staring at me?" Minako finished, winking at her. Rei huffed and turned her flaming face back to the notebook in front of her. "What were you thinking?" she teased, poking her in the shoulder playfully.

"Nothing," she murmured. The blonde snorted in disbelief. "I was just trying to imagine you in your armor," she admitted quietly. "You know, back then."

She chanced a glance over, to find the blonde thinking hard. Suddenly she leapt to her feet. "I have an idea," she announced, pulling a mystified Rei up with her. "Come with me!"

The others looked up curiously, but there was no time to explain as she was whisked out of the room by her impulsive friend. Minako led her to the fire room and sat down in front of the sacred flame, patting the spot beside her. Rei gave her a dubious look. "What are you doing?"

"I'm going to help you see," she explained matter-of-factly.

Rei sat down uncertainly. "Minako, you know what happened last time I tried this."

"I know, but you were alone and upset before. Just try this, please." She gave her a classic puppy dog look.

Rei couldn't say no to the pleading cerulean eyes. "Alright, what do you want me to do?"

Minako took her hand in both of hers and scooted over until their shoulders were touching. "Just do what you always do," she said easily. "Except think about me and happy things, nothing upsetting." _That's easy enough_, Rei thought with a smirk, Minako this close to her and holding her hand _was _a happy thought. "Don't worry, Rei," she said softly, "I'll keep you right here."

Rei tore her gaze from her best friend and stared into the flames. Images began to form in her mind's eye, slow and hazy at first then stronger. The hands on hers felt hot as did the arm against her side. Suddenly the images cleared…

_"Ready to go?" She glanced up and her jaw dropped. Minako was standing in the doorway. Her blonde hair flowed down her shoulders, gold blending to the dark orange of the cloak, then back to the shining gold of her armor. She tilted her head, causing a ripple in the golden waves. "How are you feeling?" She couldn't form words, could only stare at the vision of perfection in front of her…_

_"Why don't you just ask her to dance?" A voice asked at her shoulder. She looked down to find Ami watching her. She was dressed in silver armor with a light blue cloak clasped at her shoulder. "Minako," Ami said evenly, gesturing to the right. "Why don't you ask her to dance instead of sitting here being jealous." _

_She glared at the shorter girl, blushing hard. "I'm not jealous!" she sputtered. Almost against her will, her eyes found Minako on the dance floor. She couldn't see the face of the tall man whirling her across the floor, only the girl smiling brightly and moving with flawless grace. "I'm not," she muttered to herself._

_"For what it's worth," Ami said softly, "I think she'd rather be dancing with you."… _The room faded as she looked back across the crowded ballroom. She watched as everything around Minako disappeared then finally there was only the flickering flames_._

She sat back sharply, looking at the girl beside her. "Did it work?" Minako asked excitedly. Rei swallowed heavily, unable to meet her friend's eye. She nodded dumbly and Minako jumped up, cheering excitedly. Rei stood more slowly, vaguely missing the warmth of small hands in hers. "So how did I look?" She tossed her hair over her shoulder and grinned.

"I… good," she managed as her eyes darted around the room, everywhere except her best friend.

Minako cocked her head slightly. "What happened? You didn't see something bad did you?"

Rei bit her lip. "Not bad, no." She chanced a glance at the other girl and realized she was expected to elaborate. "It was just you in your armor, coming to get me. Then we were at a ball. Ami was there and we were watching you dance with someone." She left out the conversation she'd had with the bluenette; the implication wasn't something she was quite ready to deal with.

Minako's smile returned, however. "You and Ami? Were you getting along?"

"Yea, we were just talking," she said uncertainly. _I was jealous of him. I must have felt the same way about her then as I do now… _Her shoulders were grasped and shaken roughly and she focused on the grinning girl in front of her.

"Do you know what this means?" she asked excitedly, then continued without waiting for a response. "Usagi was right, we just haven't remembered the good parts! Let's go tell them!" She caught Rei's hand and skipped out of the room, dragging her along. Rei decided to force the thoughts away for now. There would be plenty of time later to examine the images she'd seen.

-Minako-

Minako glanced at her silent companion for what felt like the hundredth time. Rei had barely said a word since they'd returned from the fire room. After she'd told the others what had happened, they'd all been ecstatic. All except Rei, who had been distant the entire rest of the evening.

Now they were all relaxed and drowsy, watching a movie that they'd all seen before but never got tired of. Usagi was on Rei's other side, watching the screen with rapt attention. Minako wasn't even sure the girl was blinking. Ami was lounging in the armchair with Makoto on the floor between her feet. Her gaze returned to Rei, who was now frowning slightly.

Minako scooted closer and nudged her with her shoulder. "What's wrong?" she whispered.

Rei jumped and gave her a fleeting look before settling into her usual expressionless stare. "Nothing, why?"

Minako bit her lip, debating, but she knew the fiery miko too well to push her when she didn't want to talk. Instead, she rested her head on the taller girl's shoulder and returned her attention to the movie. She felt Rei stiffen slightly and twisted to look up at her. "Is this okay?"

A series of emotions crossed her face before she shrugged the other shoulder indifferently. "Sure," she muttered, looking away. Minako settled down against her again, deciding to leave it alone for now. She wondered what else Rei had seen that she didn't want to talk about. _It must have been something bad about me_, she mused sadly. _She can't even look at me…_

She cuddled closer, twining her fingers with Rei's. She felt immensely relieved when, instead of pulling away, Rei only squeezed her hand reassuringly. Minako felt her eyelids growing heavy and, try as she might to keep watching the movie, she drifted off to sleep.

_They were fighting, wooden swords clacking loudly against each other. Rei caught her with her shoulder and knocked her down, then raised the wooden sword above her head. Before she could bring it down, Minako kicked her feet out from under her and pinned her down. Their swords struck again and they held the position. "Why won't you talk to me?" Minako demanded, glaring down at her friend._

_Rei pushed her back and switched their positions. The swords met again and their faces were only inches apart. "What's there to talk about?" she growled, locking eyes with her…_

_It was dark out, but Minako could still make out the crimson cloaked back of her friend, kneeling on the ground. As she approached her, she realized the dark haired girl was punching the ground furiously. "Rei?" she called tentatively. She inched closer when the girl didn't respond and realized that she was punching the remains of a training dummy. Her hands were torn and bleeding but she didn't seem aware of anything around her. "Rei, please stop," she pleaded, her eyes following her mangled hands._

_The furious pounding stopped for a moment, then her shoulders shook with a silent sob and she punched it again. Minako dropped down behind her and wrapped her arms around her, pressing her cheek to her armored back. "Rei, it's going to be okay. Talk to me, please."_

_"No it's not." Her voice was raw with pain and Minako held on tighter…_

_Rei was watching her with sad eyes. One arm was in a sling and the other hand was balled into a fist at her side. "Will you please say something?" Minako heard herself pleading._

_"What do you want me to say?" Rei demanded, her voice edged with steel._

_Minako stepped closer to her but couldn't seem to look at her. "I can't do this. I was trying to protect you but…" She trailed off as her vision began to blur with tears._

_"Protect me from what?" Rei asked desperately._

_"From me," she whispered as tears began to stream down her face._

_Rei cupped her cheek tenderly and tilted her face up so their eyes met. "Mina, please tell me what's wrong. Please, I miss you…" At this, Minako melted into her embrace, pressing her face against her neck and sobbing…_

_She was sitting on a bench, watching the sky. Rei had her head resting on her shoulder and Minako held one of her hands in both of hers. They were watching the tiny dots of Mars and Venus. They were almost touching but she knew they were drifting apart. She realized that she was crying and she felt Rei lift her head._

_"They'll find each other again," Rei whispered. "Mars and Venus, they'll always find each other no matter how long it takes"_

_Minako looked over at her comrade and was met with a soft smile. "No matter how long?"_

_Rei nodded and touched her cheek lightly. "I'll always find you, Mina. We're meant to be together, I know it. I can feel it." Then Rei leaned forward and captured her lips in a soft kiss…_

Minako jerked awake, heart pounding and gasping for breath. She felt a hand on her shoulder and warmth beneath her and for one wild moment she thought she was still dreaming about Rei. _Rei…_

"Minako?" Rei's voice made her sit up so fast it made her head spin. She realized she'd fallen asleep in the fire soldier's lap and said soldier was now looking at her as though she'd gone crazy. "Are you alright? Another dream?"

"I- no- I mean, yes but it wasn't…" she trailed off as a frowned formed on her friend's face. She took a deep breath to compose herself. "I'm fine, it wasn't a bad dream just a little… unexpected."

Unexpected was a bit of an understatement. Rei had kissed her! REI HAD KISSED HER! They hadn't hated each other back then, apparently it had been the exact opposite. She couldn't believe she'd never remembered anything like this before. But then she thought back through the last few years. They'd always had a bit of a different relationship, always been closer, always understood each other. _But am I attracted to her like that? _She asked herself. _Yes, definitely! _Was the immediate answer. But what would Rei think of this new development? She chanced a glance at the other girl and found her watching her warily. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out.

Rei shifted uncomfortably and Minako noticed a light blush forming. _What in the world? _The miko cleared her throat. "So, um… everyone's passed out and it's pretty late. Do you, I mean, do you want to…" she gestured awkwardly and Minako took a moment to marvel at this new side of her friend.

She glanced around and realized that the other three were on the floor in sleeping bags, all sleeping soundly. "I… sure, yea. If that's okay?" She cursed the tremor in her voice and hoped that Rei was too flustered to notice.

The raven nodded mutely and they went about silently setting up their sleeping bags. Once they were settled, and carefully not touching, Minako peered at her friend through the darkness. She wanted so badly to talk to her but didn't know where to start or what to say. "Rei I…" she sighed softly. "Good night, Rei."

Their eyes met briefly. "Good night, Mina."


	6. Away From It All

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

A/N: Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing! I apologize in advance for the drinking scene, I couldn't help myself :) Enjoy!

Chapter 5: Away From It All

-Rei-

Rei paced her room restlessly. She'd gone straight back to the shrine after school to pack for their trip, but she wasn't so sure it was a good idea any more. Her mind had been in turmoil all day. She'd barely been able to concentrate on her classes. What was she supposed to say to Minako now? Her best friend, her closest comrade, her leader… How much did she remember? And, more importantly, what would it change? She couldn't imagine losing her now. But what if she didn't? What if by some miracle Minako returned her feelings? What would the others think?

"Rei?" Usagi's voice cut through her thoughts and she spun around to the door. "Is everything alright?"

She forced a smile at the blonde. "Sure, why?"

Usagi cocked her head. "You didn't answer us when we walked in and you're back here pacing."

She ran a hand through her hair self-consciously. "I wasn't…" she bit her lip as Minako appeared in the doorway. "Are we ready to go?"

Usagi glanced over her shoulder at her twin, looking perplexed. "Well yes, but-"

"Great!" Rei interrupted, picking her bag from the floor. She strode past both girls and out the front door. Mamoru's car was parked at the bottom of the stairs and she fled toward it. Mamoru was standing outside and she waved cheerfully at him.

"Hi Rei," he greeted with a warm smile. He took her bag and fitted it into the trunk then moved to open the passenger door for her.

"Actually, I'll just sit in the back," she said hurriedly. Ami shuffled over to the middle to make room for her, both her and Makoto giving her confused looks. She swallowed, glancing behind her to where Minako and Usagi were bounding down the stairs. She turned back quickly and slid in beside the bluenette, shutting the door just as the other two reached the car.

"Rei, don't you want to sit up front?" Usagi asked, sticking her head in.

Rei shrugged, shooting a quick look at a frowning Minako. "I just thought I'd let you sit by Mamoru," she replied, trying to keep her tone casual. "Since you won't get to see him all weekend."

Usagi brightened at that and slid into the middle of the bench seat. Minako paused, staring at them then smiled and sat down. As Mamoru walked around to the driver's side, she felt Ami's eyes on her and shifted guiltily. It was an unspoken rule that, whenever they went anywhere, Ami and Makoto sat together and so did she and Minako. She knew the others would realize something was wrong, but she wasn't feeling up to being pressed against the blonde for three hours when her head was such a mess.

The drive felt like an eternity in it's awkwardness. Mamoru, oblivious to the week's events, had tried to keep up a stream of small talk. But after getting nothing but dull, unenthusiastic replies from all five of them he'd opted to turn on the radio and let them be.

They were spending the next two and a half days at the Tsukino's lake house. The small cottage was peaceful and secluded, tucked away in the forest. They'd been there on several occasions and the experience always left them feeling refreshed and relaxed. Rei hoped that would be the case this time, but somehow she doubted it.

Mamoru helped them unload their things then left hastily. Rei couldn't blame him since he had no idea why they were all acting strangely. They waved after him, then set to the task of unpacking. Minako tried to catch Rei's eye several times but she busied herself with small tasks until the blonde gave up.

She felt horribly guilty for treating her friend like that, but she didn't know what else to do. Every time she looked at her, she thought of the vision she'd seen. Minako was acting skittish around her as well, and the miko was terrified that the other girl had finally discovered her secret.

Rei heard a delighted squeal from the direction of the kitchen and she guessed that Usagi had found a stash of snacks. She smirked to herself as she knelt in front of the fireplace. She carefully stacked the logs and kindling, letting her mind wander as she got the fire going. She was so focused that she didn't know anyone was in the room until a tentative hand landed on her shoulder.

She twisted and looked up into forlorn cerulean eyes. "Can we talk?" Minako asked quietly.

Rei sighed softly, but there was no way she could refuse without hurting her even more. She nodded silently and stood, following the blonde out the door to the back deck. They stood at the rail for a moment, staring out through the trees to the shimmering surface of the lake.

"You're avoiding me." It wasn't a question.

Rei let out a heavy breath and turned to her friend. "I'm sorry, I didn't…" She tried to force the words out but they wouldn't come. Her gaze drifted back to the lake. "I'm sorry."

"What did you see?" Minako demanded, taking a step toward her. Rei backed up until she hit the railing. Minako's eyes narrowed at her and she crossed her arms. "You've been acting strange around me since the other night and I want to know why." Her blue eyes were shining with angry tears and Rei felt a fresh stab of guilt for putting them there.

"I…" She pressed back against the railing, wanting desperately to run from this conversation.

Minako seemed to notice her distress because abruptly her shoulders slumped and she dropped her gaze. Wordlessly, she stepped aside, giving Rei a clear path back into the cabin. For a moment her eyes darted between the door and the defeated form in front of her. Then she took a deep breath and steeled herself. "It wasn't… what I saw. It's got nothing to do with back then. It just made me realize…" She swallowed hard, unable to finish the sentence.

Minako frowned and stepped closer to her. "Rei, you're my best friend. Whatever it is, you can tell me."

"I saw… you," she said quietly. Minako frowned uncertainly so Rei forced herself to continue. "I saw you standing in front of me in your armor, then later when you were dancing with someone."

Minako shook her head slowly. "That's it?" she asked incredulously. "That's why you can't so much as look at me? Why you won't sit next to me or talk to me?" She took a furious step back and Rei realized that she was about to storm back into the house.

She'd never been very good with words, especially when they were associated in any way with feelings. Instinct had gotten her this far in life and Rei decided to follow it now. Before the blonde could escape, Rei closed the distance between them. Minako started to sputter a response, but Rei silenced her with a soft kiss.

After a brief moment she pulled away, trying to gauge her friend's reaction. Minako looked utterly stunned. Slowly she lifted her hand and touched her lips with her fingers. She blinked as though waking up from a daze and finally her gaze focused on the girl in front of her. "Rei?"

Rei swallowed the sudden lump in her throat with difficulty. "I'm sorry," she murmured, moving to step past the blonde. "Can we just forget-"

Abruptly she found herself pressed back against the wall with soft lips against her own. The shock wore off quickly and Rei returned the kiss eagerly. She wrapped her arms around her friend, pulling them even closer together as the kiss deepened.

Finally they broke apart, both breathing heavily and grinning. "You never finished your sentence," Minako teased, not bothering to move away from her.

"Sentence?" Rei repeated distractedly. She was more focused on Minako's mouth as it quirked into an amused smirk.

"Yes, sentence," she replied playfully, wrapping her arms more securely around Rei's neck. "What did the vision make you realize?"

"Oh, right." Rei felt her face heat up but smiled in spite of it. "I realized that Princess Mars was in love with Venus. Just like I'm in love with you."

Minako made a small choked sound that could have been a laugh or a sob. She pulled Rei to her again and proceeded to give her the most passionate kiss the miko had ever received.

There was a crash and shrill wail from deep in the house and they pulled reluctantly away from each other. Minako smiled shyly at her as she wiped tears from her eyes. "I love you, too." She caught Rei's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "We should probably go see what happened to Usagi," she added, grinning.

Rei nodded, too euphoric to find words. Instead she twined their fingers together and the two walked back into the house.

-Minako-

Minako whistled as she unrolled her sleeping bag next to Rei's. Their first day of vacation had been fun and relaxing, exactly what they all needed. She grinned as she traced her hand over Rei's pillow. She could barely believe that the last few hours had been real. Rei loved her. Rei had kissed her. She smiled wider, touching her fingers to her lips for what was probably the tenth time since it had happened.

The others had gone for an evening stroll a few minutes before, but Minako had decided to stay behind. She wanted to bask in her new found happiness. As though her thought had drifted out the window to it's source, the door opened and Rei appeared.

"I thought you went for a walk?" Minako teased, sitting back on her heels to study the other girl.

Rei shrugged and smiled shyly as she crossed the room. "It wouldn't be any fun without you." She sat on her sleeping bag and twisted toward her. Minako grinned and leaned forward, kissing her softly. Rei was tentative at first, placing a hand lightly against her face. But as the kiss deepened, she reached to pull her closer until Minako was practically in her lap. Her tongue ran along the blonde's bottom lip, begging for entrance which Minako happily granted.

She moaned softly into the kiss and pushed Rei onto her back, straddling her without breaking the contact of their mouths. Rei's palms were hot as they stroked up her back and buried in her hair. When the need for air became an issue, Minako reluctantly pulled away, gasping as she stared down at her best friend. Rei reached up to tuck a strand of golden hair behind her ear.

"Mina," she whispered, a shadow crossing her face.

Minako tilted her head uncertainly. "What is it, Rei?"

She frowned slightly, as though searching for the right words. "Do you think…" she paused, then tried again. "Is this because of us now or back then?"

"What do you mean?" She asked quietly. She shifted so she could see the raven's face more fully. The firelight cast flickering shadows across her pale features.

"If we hadn't remembered anything about back then…?" She closed her eyes for a moment and suddenly it made sense.

"Rei look at me," she said firmly. Reluctantly the amethyst gaze met hers. "I love you and I have for a long time. Long before any of this happened, before we even knew about any of that, I did. It's you that I'm in love with, Rei. I don't even know who she was."

Rei smiled in evident relief. "I've loved you for so long, I wish I would have told you sooner."

Minako kissed her lightly then pulled back to study her face. "I'm glad you told me. Now we've got a thousand years to be together and be happy."

Rei smiled fully and pushed her shoulder gently, reversing their positions. The kisses grew more passionate as they went on. Rei's arm was behind her head, holding them close and her other hand was pressed against her side. Their bodies were flush together and she couldn't remember ever feeling so warm and complete. Her hands roamed up and down Rei's lean back as the fire soldier lowered her kisses to her throat. She gasped at the sensation, pulling her even closer.

They broke apart, panting, at the sound of distant voices growing closer. Rei grinned and rolled off of her, allowing Minako to sit up and hastily run her fingers through her disheveled hair. Rei let out a contented sigh, stretching out on her back with her hands behind her head. Minako had to chuckle at the smug smile.

"We're back!" Usagi announced as she burst through the front door. "I hope you didn't get too bored here by yourselves." She grinned as she flopped onto her sleeping bag on Rei's other side. Minako couldn't look at Rei since she knew they would both burst out laughing. No, boredom had definitely not been an issue.

-That Night-

_She stared up into Rei's eyes as the other girl hovered over her. She wore a black sleeveless shirt that contrasted nicely with the deep red sheet wrapped around them. Her raven hair was shorter than it should be but her long braids hung down next to Minako's face._

_Rei ran a bandaged hand down her face, examining her cheek. "I gave you that."_

_Minako reached up and traced a thick scar beside Rei's eye. "I gave you this," she replied with a soft smile._

_"Mina I… I love you," she said, smiling shyly…_

_They were in a sterile looking locker room. Rei looked away from her nervously as she unclasped her cloak. "What do you mean?" Minako demanded as she began unbuckling her muddy armor._

_Rei sat down and focused on untying her boot. "I mean, you two don't seem to be getting along that well lately. Did something happen?" _

_Part of Minako's brain wondered who they were talking about even as she continued the conversation. "I guess we're just too much alike sometimes," she said slowly, dropping her clothes on a bench. Rei glanced up at her and her eyes widened, raking over her body. "We want the same thing sometimes," she continued, pulling the raven to her feet and slipping her shirt over her head. "But what I want is right here," she purred, tugging the other girl toward a shower stall._

_"And what is that?" Came Rei's shaky voice behind her._

_"I'll show you," she whispered, turning and kissing her deeply…_

Minako jerked awake, heart pounding and skin tingling. She sat up slightly to peer around the darkened room. Rei was asleep beside her, one arm loosely draped across Minako's waist. She swallowed heavily as she watched the sleeping girl. "That was some dream," she murmured to herself, settling back beside her. She cuddled close to her girlfriend and drifted back to sleep smiling.

-The Next Day-

Minako wandered into the kitchen in search of something to drink. The others were all lounging on the back porch, enjoying the quiet and fresh air. Makoto turned when she entered the room and smiled. She set down the knife she'd been chopping vegetables with and leaned over the door of the fridge. Minako looked up from her quest to find the taller girl watching her.

"What's up?" she asked, pulling out several cans of soda and stepping back.

"I had another dream last night," she said quietly. _Me too_, Minako thought with a smirk. "Remember when you mentioned Rei having an affair back then?" Minako froze then nodded quickly, holding her breath. "I think I figured out who it was with and you'll never believe it!"

Minako slowly set the cans on the counter and regarded her friend with what she hoped was innocent curiosity. "Okay, who was it?"

She leaned closer, and Minako followed suit. "The Princess. Usagi."

"What?" Minako said loudly, then blushed and lowered her voice again. "How do you know? Are you sure it wasn't someone else?"

Makoto leaned a hip against the table and raised an eyebrow at her. "I don't know who else it would be," she replied, frowning at nothing. Minako shifted guiltily but remained silent.

"In the dream, there was a lot of tension between everyone," Makoto continued, tapping her lip lightly with a finger. "And you were our leader back then too, so it would make sense that you'd be mad about anyone getting too involved with the person we were supposed to be protecting."

Minako frowned, thinking over her words. "You had a dream that I was mad at the Princess?" An image forced itself to the forefront of her mind: grabbing Princess Serenity roughly by her shoulders and slamming her against the wall.

Makoto crossed her arms to rest them on the still open refrigerator door. "No, you were mad at Rei. She was in the room across from mine with the Princess. You walked in, Usagi left and you and Rei got into an argument." Makoto shrugged and straightened, shutting the door with her hip.

Minako nodded absently, then realized what her friend had just said. "Wait, what?" she snapped, making the brunette jump. "Usagi was coming out of Rei's bedroom?" She thought back to the part of her own dream that didn't make sense. _They wanted the same thing, did they? And that thing was Rei!_

"It kind of seemed like you caught them kissing or something, from the way you were talking" she said with a shrug.

Minako was too shaken to respond. She remembered what Usagi had told them about her own dream. Rei had told her about the braids. She thought of her less pleasant dreams, where she and Rei were fighting. The dreams where the Princess had been afraid of her.

Minako forced herself to unclench her fists and smile. "They weren't us. I think we're putting too much stock in these dreams." With that she grabbed the drinks and returned to the back porch. From the open doorway, she paused despite herself to study her friends.

"Rei, why are you always so mean to me?" Usagi whined, earning a chuckle from the miko.

"I'm not mean, Odango, you're just sensitive." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms defensively. "Saying you eat too much isn't the same as calling you fat."

Usagi looked down at herself then back up at Rei. "So you don't really think I am?"

Minako cleared her throat loudly as she strode out. Rei gave her a brief searching look; apparently she sensed something wrong. Minako smiled at her before tossing a can to Usagi. She sat close beside Rei and offered another, then proceeded to open her own.

A menacing hiss preceded a sharp squeal as Usagi's can sprayed her with soda. "Sorry," Minako said quickly as the other blonde sputtered. She was a little bothered to realize that a small part of her wasn't sorry at all.

-That Night-

The four senshi were sitting in a loose circle around the fireplace, relaxing. Usagi had disappeared minutes earlier and had been rummaging in the kitchen. Minako leaned lightly against Rei, who had her back propped up against the couch. Ami and Makoto were sitting close together talking quietly. Minako took a moment to wonder again about the two of them. Their interactions suggested a spark of something and she wondered whether they'd had something in the past as well.

"I found it!" Usagi cried, skipping back into the living room. She grinned and held out a large bottle of wine for their inspection.

"What? Absolutely not!" Ami said immediately. Makoto cocked her head but didn't respond.

"Oh, come on," Usagi whined, "We're on vacation!"

Rei grumbled softly and Minako twisted to face her. "Always so serious," she teased quietly. "You need to relax a little, Rei."

"Can you imagine her drunk?" Rei snapped, gesturing toward Usagi. The blonde in question sat down between Minako and Makoto, still grinning.

"What I can't imagine is _you _drunk," Makoto pointed out, winking at Rei who blushed cutely. "It's not like anyone else is around."

Minako stared up at Rei, willing her to agree. "I suppose one bottle couldn't hurt," Ami said uncertainly.

All eyes turned to the miko, who scowled. "Alright, I guess," she growled. The occupants of the room gave a cheer.

Usagi ushered them into a tighter circle and passed the bottle to Makoto to open. "Let's play 'I never'," she said excitedly, bouncing a little where she sat.

"What are you, twelve?" Rei grumbled. Minako elbowed her in the ribs.

"How do you play?" Ami asked with interest.

Makoto pulled the cork expertly and handled the bottle back to Usagi. "You say: I never did this thing. Anyone who _has _done it has to drink."

Ami frowned as she considered. "I'll show you," Usagi said excitedly. She thought for a moment then shot a wicked grin at the bluenette. "I've never aced a math test!" She giggled and passed the bottle to Makoto, who chuckled and handed it to Ami.

Ami shook her head good-naturedly and took a sip. Her face flushed immediately and her eyes widened. For a moment she seemed about to spit it out, then she swallowed heavily and grimaced. "That was bracing," she gasped.

Shuddering, she handed the bottle to Rei. Rei huffed and took a sip before wordlessly handing it to Minako, who passed it back to Usagi with a grin. Ami's turn was next. She arched an eyebrow at Usagi. "Alright then, I've never _failed _a math test." Minako groaned as she, Makoto and Usagi were forced to drink.

As the evening progressed, the level of tipsiness began to show. The pronouncements were become more ridiculous with every pass of the bottle.

"I've never slept through my alarm!"

"Yea, right!"

"I've never been a Sailor V groupie!"

"Hey!"

"I've never turned in an assignment late!"

"Ami…"

"I've never tripped in public!"

"You're so mean, Rei!"

"I've never…" Minako paused, then grinned. "I can't think of one!" she cried dramatically. "You go, Usagi."

Usagi took the bottle and stared at it, giggling. It was now only a quarter full. "I, um, I've never… kissed a girl!" Four pairs of eyes widened at this statement. Grinning mischievously, Usagi tipped back the bottle and took a huge gulp. Minako's jaw dropped as she stared at the Princess. Then Usagi leaned across her and handed the bottle to Rei.

Rei took it slowly, not looking at any of them as she took a sip. "You two have kissed?" Ami asked in awe. "When?"

"Just once," Rei mumbled uneasily. "The night before we went after Beryl." Minako stared at her, mouth still hanging open. Amethyst eyes flicked to hers, then quickly away.

"Huh," Minako said softly. Then she snatched the bottle from Rei and took a long swallow. The others watched her in confusion. "What?" she said breezily. "I've kissed a girl too."

"Who?" Usagi asked, blue eyes wide.

Makoto let out a loud laugh and reached across the circle for the bottle. "Since we're confessing tonight…" She took a swig and handed the bottle to a mortified Ami.

"Ami?" Minako asked with a grin.

The bluenette flushed and tipped the bottle back, draining the last of the wine. She let out a shaky breath then smiled. She caught Makoto's hand and pulled it into her lap. "We've sort of been…" she gestured awkwardly between them.

"What? How long?" Rei demanded, grinning.

"Only about a month," Makoto said sheepishly. "We were going to tell you guys."

"So much for your old sempai," Minako chuckled.

"Trust me, Ami's much better." This was accompanied with a conspiratorial wink.

"Eep! Makoto!" Minako suspected that Ami's face couldn't blush any darker without bursting into flames.

"Is there any more wine, Odango?" Rei asked weakly. Usagi nodded happily and leapt to her feet. She swayed alarmingly and staggered into the kitchen.

"So you two are dating, huh?" Minako asked, raising an eyebrow at the pair. She nodded to herself. "I kind of wondered."

"You did? Why? How?" Makoto was apparently approaching panic.

Minako giggled. "Just the way you are with each other." Ami gave her a meaningful look then discretely gestured to Rei. She opened her mouth, but was interrupted by a wail from the kitchen.

"I'll get her," Makoto laughed, hopping to her feet and jogging out of the room.

Ami glanced between Minako and Rei then cleared her throat. "I'm going to see if they need help."

When they were alone, Minako twisted to face the other girl. "Were you going to tell me?" she asked softly.

Rei sighed and slipped an arm behind her back, pulling her close. "It was years ago, I didn't think it would matter now. We were young and we didn't know if we would survive the next day. It just kind of happened."

Minako rested her head against her shoulder. "So just the one time?" Rei nodded. "I suppose it doesn't matter then. We're not the same now, anyway."

"What do you mean?" Rei drew back a little to look at her fully. "Not the same as three years ago? Or before." Her expression darkened.

"It's just…" Minako was finding it hard to form words. Her head was a jumble of confused drunken thoughts. "You liked her back then, too," she blurted, then bit her lip. She already knew Rei was uneasy about the past life. _Why am I bringing it up again_, she berated silently.

Rei took a slow breath before responding. "I thought the past life had no bearing on this? On us?"

"It doesn't, but…" Minako sighed and buried her face against her friend's neck. "Why would you ever want me when you could have her?" she whispered.

"Mina," Rei began, pulling away more so they were facing each other, "I love her as my friend and our Princess, just like you do. The way I feel about you is so much more than that." She bent her head and kissed her. Minako pulled her closer to return it, trying to convey everything she felt in the single action.

A throat clearing made them just apart guiltily. "I guess we're not the only ones," Makoto said with a chuckle. She was clutching an open bottle and grinning. She and Ami sat again, but Usagi lingered in the doorway. Minako looked up and met her twin's gaze. Her expression was unreadable.

After a moment, her usual smile returned and she plopped down beside Minako. They started up idle chatter as they continued to pass the bottle around. However, Minako noticed Usagi watching Rei whenever she thought no one was looking. A flicker of jealously began in her chest and, try as she might to extinguish it, Minako couldn't.

-Rei-

Rei stared into the dying embers of the fireplace. She'd begun to sober up finally and the others had all fallen asleep. Minako was curled up with her head in her lap and Rei was absently stroking her hair. Makoto and Ami were cuddled together on the floor a few feet away. Usagi was sprawled in the arm chair, snoring softly.

She couldn't get the conversation with Minako out of her head. The blonde seemed to think she'd wanted the Princess instead and Rei couldn't imagine why. The only possibility was something else she'd remembered from the past life. She scowled into the dying fire. _Why does it matter now? We're not those people any more._

She cast back to the conversation they'd had with Haruka and Michiru. They had implied that they knew about the relationship with Mars and Venus, but that they didn't remember for a reason. Artemis had been reluctant to tell Minako who Mars had her affair with, but Rei was fairly sure he had the same motives. "Why do they insist on keeping secrets from us," she murmured.

A log cracked, sending up a small shower of sparks. Her attention turned to the renewed flame in the hearth. Gradually, the flicker grew to a full blaze and she stared, transfixed…

_She was sitting on a bed in a room with Minako, Ami and Makoto. All were looking grim. "Now we just need to convince the Princess," Makoto said uncertainly._

_"She'll never go for it if she thinks we still don't trust him," Rei heard herself pointing out._

_Minako bit her lip and nodded. "Then I guess she can't know."…_

_Rei was staring at Setsuna, who was watching her coldly. "Your majesty?" Ami's voice said timidly. "What about Mars' vision?"_

_Rei turned her gaze to the wall. She couldn't see the next speaker but she recognized the voice of Queen Serenity. "Try not to worry about that. Your duty is to protect the Princess."…_

The images were coming faster, some were almost a blur. The only thing Rei could see clearly was the face of each speaker...

_"You have to put your personal feelings aside, Mars," Artemis said gently…_

_"You know all that you need to. The rest is none of your concern." Setsuna was glaring down at her…_

_"I will ask that you don't mention the details of this to the Princess," Luna said over her shoulder as she walked away..._

_"How are we supposed to protect her when no one will tell us what we're fighting?" Ami said heavily…_

_"If you can't trust us with the truth, how can you trust us with the Princess's life?" Makoto snarled angrily…_

_"So we're doing this again, Luna?" Minako sneered. "Since we all remember how well your secrets and half-truths have been working out until now."…_

"No, this isn't real," Rei growled, trying to force the images away.

_All around her, the palace was burning. The air was thick with smoke and the smell of burning flesh. Shadows were pouring over the crumbling walls and she could see them from the balcony. Usagi and Minako were on either side of her, facing each other._

_"You knew all along, Venus!" Usagi yelled at her. "All of you did and you never told me!"_

_"We didn't have a choice," Minako snarled back. "They didn't give us one!"_

"Stop it," Rei pleaded, looking at them both.

_"And no one gave me a choice either!" Usagi now had tears pouring down her face. "Don't you think I would have done things differently if I'd known how little time we had left?"_

_"You! You, Princess?" Minako screamed. "We gave up everything for you! Everything! Look what it's brought us!"_

"Please, don't do this," Rei cried, stepping between them.

_At the same moment they lunged forward trying to reach around her to each other._

_"I'll never forgive you, Venus!"_

_"Good, Princess, because neither will I!"_

"Stop!" Rei shouted frantically.

_Then she looked up to see something huge and flaming hurtling toward where the three of them were standing. She could feel them pressing close on either side of her. "Look out!"_

_She threw them both away from her and a moment later, the world exploded in flame…_

She fell forward, gasping for breath. She realized she was shivering and slowly became aware that she was soaking wet.

"Rei?" a voice said tentatively at her shoulder. A hand touched her back lightly. Slowly, she looked up to see Sailor Mercury and Jupiter standing in front of her, wide-eyed.

"Are you alright?" Minako asked quietly beside her. She quickly looked the other way and found Usagi on her knees watching her.

"I…" Rei blinked several times and sat back. Ami and Makoto returned to their normal forms and sat down in front of her. "What happened?" she asked weakly. Her voice felt raw, as though she'd been breathing the acrid air from the vision.

Minako and Usagi pressed close to her sides. She could feel them both shaking. "I thought you were dreaming at first," Minako said quietly. "But then I looked up and you were awake and watching the fire."

"You were muttering and twitching a lot," Usagi continued. "It was scary. We didn't know what was happening."

"Then you started talking," Minako said. "I think you were talking about what you were seeing."

The images were still in the forefront of her mind, so she tried to focus on the physical instead. "Why am I wet?" Minako immediately grabbed a nearby blanket and threw it around her shoulders.

Ami shifted guiltily. "Sorry. The room started to heat up, so Mako and I transformed just in case."

"Minako and Usagi were trying to get you to wake up or snap out of it or whatever," Makoto picked up. "Then you yelled at them to stop and pushed them both back and soft of…"

"Lit on fire," Usagi supplied in an awed tone. "Your arms were on fire, so Ami… put you out."

Rei stared at them in amazement. "How did I do that? I wasn't even transformed!" She held her arms in front of her, examining her unscathed skin.

"Maybe we should talk to Luna and Artemis," Minako said uncertainly. "This is getting pretty serious."

The visions returned full force and Rei grimaced. "They didn't trust us," she said in a flat voice. "They kept secrets from us; important things." Her gaze turned to Usagi. "Neither did you. We kept things from you. You were so angry…" She dropped her eyes to her shaking hands.

"Rei," Usagi said gently, laying a hand on her shoulder. "That was another life. Those people weren't us, not really. I trust all of you with my life."

"She's right," Minako said quickly. "None of that matters." Rei looked at her, but she wouldn't quite meet her eye. "What does matter is that it's affecting us enough to be a danger. They might not want to tell us the truth about other things, but they'll have to help with this."

Ami nodded tiredly. "Alright then, we'll talk to Luna and Artemis tomorrow. For now, we should try to go back to bed."

Rei lay on her back, staring at the ceiling. Minako had her head resting on her shoulder and an arm across her waist, but Rei knew she wasn't asleep. She could hear the restless movements and uneven breathing of the other three and knew that they were all lying awake. Sleeping was no longer safe.


	7. Then and Now

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

A/N: Sorry for the delay, life got hectic for a little while. Hopefully a long chapter with lots of action makes up for it! Enjoy :)

P.S. I'm working on a sweet happy one shot to make up for the lack of fluff!

Chapter 6: Then and Now

-Minako-

Minako sat stiffly on the couch beside Rei. Usagi, Makoto and Ami were on the opposite couch, looking grim. None of them had spoken for a while. They were waiting for Luna and Artemis, who had called an emergency meeting.

The cats arrived at the shrine some minutes later. Artemis leapt onto the couch beside Minako and she shifted away from him slightly. "What's wrong?" he asked, gazing up at her.

"Nothing," she muttered, shifting her focus to Luna. "What's going on?"

Luna sat down on the low table between them. "There was a youma attack in the city last night."

Everyone immediately sat forward, giving her their full attention. "Where did it come from?" Makoto wondered.

"Is there a new enemy? Rei demanded, looking between the two cats.

"I don't think it's anything like that," Luna reassured them. "It seems to be leftover fodder from Galaxia."

Minako frowned and sat back. "Are you sure? It might be more serious than that."

"There's no reason to think that," Luna answered. "All the readings suggest it's just a stray."

No one spoke for a moment. Minako glanced at the others and found them all in various states of doubt. She was sure they were thinking back to the revelations of their past lives. She found that she couldn't completely trust their guardian. She looked to Rei and found the raven frowning at nothing.

"We should patrol tonight," Minako decided. "We'll see if we can find it. If we do, Ami, you can scan it and see where it came from."

"Minako," Artemis said uncertainly, "there's really no reason to think it's anything more serious than what Luna said."

"But you would tell us if it was?" Makoto snapped, her tone hostile.

Artemis stared at her in shock. "Of course," Luna said slowly, staring at the thunder soldier. "What's gotten into all of you?"

Makoto looked away. Ami bit her lip but didn't respond. "Luna," Usagi said gently after a moment, "There's something else we need to talk to you about."

All eyes turned to the blonde. "You can talk to us about anything. You know that," Luna replied. Minako couldn't hold in a derisive snort and both cats turned to her.

"Minako, what happened to all of you?" Artemis asked softly.

Minako crossed her arms tightly across her chest. "Where have you been?" she countered. "We haven't seen either of you in days."

Both guardians were silent for a moment, each second adding to Minako's irritation. "We've been with Setsuna," Luna said finally. "At the time gate. Something came up that had to be dealt with away from here."

"What came up?" she asked tensely. "Something to do with us?"

"We thought it might be an issue, but the danger seems to have passed," Artemis said uncertainly. "Setsuna went alone to Crystal Tokyo, so we'll know more when she gets back." He looked between them in concern. "Did something happen while we were gone?"

Everyone was silent as they glanced at each other. It was Rei who finally answered for the group. "You lied to us," she said flatly.

They looked at her in shock. "What are you talking about Rei?" Luna asked worriedly.

A knock at the door interrupted the tense conversation. They were joined by Haruka, Michiru, Hotaru and Setsuna. "We have a problem," Setsuna informed them when she reached the table.

"Yes, we do," Minako replied, standing to face the older woman. She seemed taken aback by the hostility. "I'm glad you're all here. We need to settle all of this now before things get any worse.

"What happened?" Haruka demanded, stepping forward.

"Yesterday, Rei's power manifested itself while she was in her civilian form," Ami explained.

"That's not possible," Luna said in an awed voice.

"It happened at the cabin last night," Makoto growled. "If Ami hadn't transformed and extinguished the fire, she might have been killed."

The Outers sat down around the table. "I think you'd better start at the beginning," Setsuna said slowly.

Minako cringed at the irony. "That _is _the problem. The beginning." Setsuna raised a confused eyebrow at her. "For the past week we've been having dreams of the Silver Millennium. The real one."

Luna and Artemis shared a look and Minako felt a flare of rage. "How could you hide everything from us?" she demanded. "Do you have any idea what we've gone through the past few days? We trusted you." The last part came out softer and she felt Rei catch her hand and squeeze it reassuringly.

"It started after Galaxia," Usagi said quietly. "I started dreaming about the end of our last life. Now all of us are and we need to know what happened. We need you to tell us the truth because it's hurting all of us not to know." Her voice didn't hold a trace of malice, but it caught everyone's attention.

"Is this because of the story I told you?" Artemis asked, looking up at Minako. "The story about the braids?"

"That's when the dreams started for me, yes," she admitted. "But Usagi's started before that."

"Wait, I don't understand," Haruka cut in. "You told us before you didn't remember about some things, but you don't remember _any _of it? None of your time on the Moon or anything?"

"We do now," Makoto grumbled. "But not until a few days ago."

"Were we the only ones who didn't know?" Ami asked in a small voice.

Setsuna sighed heavily. "Yes."

"Why?" Michiru said carefully. "Haruka and I remember it all." Then she frowned and glanced at Setsuna. "Don't we?"

Setsuna shook her head. "You remember some things, things that would help you in this life. Others…" She trailed off and looked at the cats for help.

"You two remember your time with each other and your service to the Lunar army," Luna picked up. "We made the decision to remove the rest."

"You're kidding," Haruka said weakly, leaning back on her hands. "What exactly did you remove?"

"Us," Luna said simply. "That's why any memory of Setsuna, Artemis or myself is blurred and vague."

"So why do they remember some parts and we don't?" Makoto asked in confusion. "Shouldn't we still have bits and pieces like them?"

"They were around us all the time," Rei murmured. "They were training us. Right?" She lifted her gaze to Haruka, who nodded slowly.

Ami gasped softly. "So to remove memories of yourselves, you had to get rid of everything."

Artemis moved to the table to sit by Luna. "Queen Serenity wanted you to have a second chance," he said sadly. "She wanted you all to have new lives and be happy."

"So where did the memories we already had come from?" Usagi asked quietly, voice choked with tears. "You showed us our past years ago."

"When we showed you the visions of the past, they were based from who you are now. We erased everything that tied to your old lives and told you the parts you needed to know to protect the Princess and defeat Beryl," Luna explained.

"Why?" Minako whispered. "How could you take all of that away from us?"

"Because we failed." Everyone stared at Setsuna as she frowned at the table. "We failed you in that life and because of that, you failed the Princess. What good would it have done to repeat all of those mistakes again?"

"But we did repeat them, didn't we?" Ami asked. "We all have died to protect Usagi. Several times."

Usagi nodded sadly. "I saw how it happened back then. I was with Rei when she died." Luna looked away sharply so the blonde pressed forward. "They all died for me back then, just like now. How was that a failure?"

Setsuna took a deep breath. "They didn't." The room fell into a shocked silence.

"We weren't there in the end," Haruka said heavily, gesturing between herself and Michiru. "We died on Earth before anything had happened to the Moon."

Michiru glanced up at Setsuna. "That part was true, wasn't it? I remember it so clearly…"

Setsuna nodded once but stayed silent. Hotaru looked between them, wide-eyed. "I don't remember ever seeing either of you there. Just you four and the Princess. I never thought about it until now." She let out a soft breath. Minako glanced at her fellow Senshi. They were all in various stages of shock and disbelief. "But _we _died on the moon, didn't we?" she asked in surprise.

"You did," Setsuna confirmed. "But the only one who died protecting the Princess was you." She looked across the table to Rei.

"But I was with her when she died," Usagi said immediately. Her eyes were swimming with tears at the memory. "She was the only one left."

"No, she wasn't," Luna said quietly. "Mars was the first one of the four of you to die."

"Where were the rest of us? Why weren't we fighting?" Makoto even sounded close to tears.

Luna regarded them sadly. "Jupiter and Mercury were fighting in another part of the palace. They never got to Princess Serenity, they were killed before they could."

Minako swallowed heavily. She knew she didn't want to know the answer, but she had to ask. "What about me?"

Luna gave her a sorrowful look. "You walked away," Artemis answered. "After Mars was killed, you didn't care what happened. You walked away to fight alone."

Minako shook her head in mute denial. "So the vision Usagi had of Rei being killed," Ami said quietly. "The rest of us were still alright? None of us fought to protect the Princess besides her?"

Setsuna nodded sadly. "It was our failing as much as yours, if not more," Artemis reminded them. "You were young and we were supposed to guide you. It was a different time, and there was so much happening. In the end, we were all so divided, there was no other way it could have ended."

Minako blinked back tears and pulled her hand out of Rei's. She was too ashamed to even look at the other girl. She was the only one who fought. _We abandoned her… I abandoned them…_

"I'm sorry," Luna said gently. "This was why we didn't tell you."

Minako stared down at her hands clasped tightly in her lap. The room was silent except the occasional sniffle from Usagi. She felt the cushion shift as Rei stood. She couldn't bring herself to look at her second in command. _I don't deserve to lead them._

"You should have trusted us," Rei said flatly. Everyone looked up at her and she looked furious. "We aren't the same people we were back then, but from what I've seen that was the biggest problem. You kept secrets from us and forced us to keep them from each other. You should have trusted us enough to overcome what happened back then."

Setsuna stood to face her, frowning sadly. "Our entire world was lost back then. You never would have had a chance at happiness in this life if you brought that hate and mistrust with you. Even now, this world and it's future are threatened by those memories. That is what I came here to tell you."

Minako shot her an alarmed look. In all the discussion, she'd forgotten the original reason for the Outers' visit. "The timeline has been disrupted," she said with the barest trace of anger. "Everything we know about the future is in danger of being lost. We failed in that life and if we follow the path we did then, we will fail again. We have to trust each other."

"How can we?" Makoto mumbled to herself.

Minako twisted to glare at her, but found her emerald eyes focused on the table between them. "What was that Makoto?" Minako had tried to sound questioning, but she knew it came out a challenge. She was daring the brunette to say what she was obviously thinking.

Finally Makoto looked up at her. She didn't bother trying to hide the hurt and anger as she glared at her leader. "Nothing."

Setsuna turned to her and seemed about to speak. Instead she sighed, turned and wordlessly strode from the room. Minako thought she caught a glimpse of tears in the garnet eyes. The other Outers muttered awkward good byes and hastily followed her out, leaving the rest alone. Minako glanced up at Rei but the girl was staring at the closed door.

Luna cleared her throat uneasily to draw their attention. "I think it would be a good idea for all of you to patrol tonight. We still need to find the stray youma and get rid of it."

Minako hastily blinked back tears and stood. "Alright, let's meet back here at sunset. We can figure out a strategy of attack then." Without looking at any of them, she turned and left the shrine.

She simply couldn't face the others after what Setsuna had told them. Fresh tears started as she walked, blurring her vision. "Minako?" Artemis's voice was tentative at her feet.

She glanced down at him but didn't stop. "Where was the attack last night? I think we should start the patrol there and sweep the area, then-"

"Minako," he interrupted. She stopped and glared down at him. "It was a different time and you were different people. You are not Princess Venus, you're Aino Minako and you won't make the same mistakes she did."

She thought back to her dreams. The images of loving Mars, of fighting the Princess. She thought of the jealousy she felt now, the uncertainty. "I already have," she whispered. She started walking again and was relieved when he didn't follow.

-Rei-

Rei paced restlessly beside the low table in the shrine's living room. For what felt like the thousandth time, she glanced out the window and sighed heavily.

"It's still twenty minutes until sunset," Ami reminded her wearily from her place on the couch. "She'll be here."

"It's not like it's unusual for either of them to be late," Makoto muttered. She sat heavily next to Ami.

Rei glared at them then resumed her pacing. "This isn't a usual situation," she growled. "They should be here." Neither girl responded.

As if on cue, the door burst open. "Sorry I'm late!" Usagi cried, rushing into the room. Rei smiled tightly at her, noting that she was alone. "Are we ready to- where's Minako?" She stared blankly around the room, as though expecting the other blonde to pop up from behind a piece of furniture.

Rei stopped pacing to scowl at the front door. "She's late, too."

"Sorry," Usagi said in a small voice. She sat on Ami's other side and looked forlornly down at the table.

Rei sighed and stopped in front of the other girl. "It's not a big deal, Odango," she said in a tone she hoped sounded casual. "We're used to it by now."

Usagi pouted up at her. "You're so mean, Rei!" The raven smirked and didn't respond.

The door opened again and Minako stepped into the room. Her eyes were rimmed with red and her expression was strained. "Hey guys, are we ready to go?"

Rei frowned in concern and stepped closer to the other girl. "Are you alright?"

She lifted a hand to Minako's cheek but the blonde stepped past her. Rei dropped her hand to her side and turned to face her girlfriend's back. "So the youma was spotted in the park near the mall," she said as though nothing had happened. "We can start there and fan out farther if we don't see anything."

"Minako, do you maybe want to talk first?" Usagi asked gently. She stepped closer to her twin and studied her face.

"I'm fine," She responded tersely. Usagi took a hesitant step back and Minako glanced past her out the window. "It should be dark by the time we arrive. Let's get going."

She turned on her heel and the others hastily followed. Rei trailed after them, trying to quash the rising bad feeling in her chest.

The park was deserted when they arrived but there were signs of the recent attack. Several trees were damaged, one even uprooted and lying next to a small pond. Deep furrows were carved into the grass around them.

"Looks like this is the place," Makoto said unnecessarily as she gestured around them.

All of them transformed and Mercury immediately activated her visor. Mars studied the ground, trying to gauge the size of the monster based on the damage it had caused. "Do you see anything, Mercury?" Venus demanded, her voice tense.

"Just some residual traces of energy," Mercury replied distractedly. "Nothing definite."

"Are you sure? Maybe you should-"

"I know what I'm doing, Venus," she snapped. Mars lifted her head and turned to them.

"Guys, come on," Jupiter tried, stepping between them.

Mercury sighed and turned her attention to the others. "I'm sorry, I'm just a little tense."

Venus bit her lip and looked away. "It's fine. Just keep checking."

Jupiter opened her mouth but Sailor Moon got there first. "Venus," she said, placing a gentle hand on her arm. "The past doesn't matter. You're a good leader and everyone trusts your judgment."

Mars approached them cautiously, stopping beside Moon. "She's right, let's just focus on finding the youma."

Anger flashed briefly across her features as she stepped back from them. Her eyes darted between them for a moment before her expression hardened. "You're right, none of it matters." She turned away sharply and started examining the area.

Mars offered Sailor Moon a sad, reassuring smile before moving to where Jupiter was standing. "This feels wrong," the taller girl said quietly. "If she's lost her confidence-"

"She hasn't," Mars said immediately. Jupiter gave her a meaningful look but didn't respond.

"I think I've got something," Mercury called. The others hurried over to look over her shoulder at her mini computer. "There's a mass of energy there in the trees." She pointed across the park to a thick stand of maples.

Jupiter started forward immediately. "Wait, you can't just charge in," Venus shouted after her. "We don't even know what we're facing."

Jupiter turned back, scowling darkly. "So we should, what, not fight at all?"

Venus flinched as though she'd been slapped. "She's our leader," Mars snarled. "If she says to wait, we wait."

"I don't need you to protect me, Rei," she said softly, touching her hand. Cerulean eyes met hers briefly and she sighed. Makoto looked stricken and seemed about to apologize. Instead, she dropped her gaze guiltily and turned away.

"It's big," Mercury said, seemingly oblivious to the conversation. "I don't think it's realized we're here."

"What is it?" Mars asked, moving next to where Sailor Moon was standing to watch the trees. The ground shook under their feet and a moment later, it emerged from the shadows. It looked like a cross between a panther and a dragon. At least twelve feet tall at the shoulder, it's gray scales glistened in the moonlight and it's spiked tail twitched as it approached them.

"Keep it back, I'll try to find a weak point," Mercury said quickly. Her fingers flew across the keyboard as the others advanced to buy her time.

They formed a loose half circle and moved toward it. It's golden eyes glowed as it watched them. Without warning, it reared onto it's back legs and swiped at the air with a clawed front paw. Long spikes flew toward them, tearing through the grass and trees. They threw themselves sideways to avoid the lethal projectiles.

Mars rolled as she hit the ground and fired a flame sniper at it's head as soon as she was back on her feet. It roared in agony, clawing at the flaming arrow imbedded in it's face. Lines of electricity crackled across it's back, indicating that Jupiter was attacking from the other side. It threw out another wave of spikes and Mars heard a shriek of pain behind her.

She spun to see Sailor Moon stagger back, clutching her head. "Sailor Moon!" she shouted, sprinting to her.

"I'm alright," she gasped as the soldier approached her. "It just winged me." She pulled her hand away from her forehead, examining her bloodied glove. Mars looked over the knick by her temple which, though not deep, was bleeding profusely.

"Mars, look out!" She spun at the sound of Jupiter's voice. At the sight of another barrage of spikes, she instinctively grabbed the Princess and dropped them both to the ground.

"Are you alright?" Venus demanded as she and Jupiter helped them up. They nodded shakily and she scowled. "What the hell is the hold up, Mercury?" she shouted.

"Don't talk to her like that," Jupiter snapped, squaring off against the shorter girl. They glared at each other briefly before another tremor nearly knocked them both off their feet.

A sound like shattering glass sounded close behind them. Mars spun to find a row of roses imbedded stem-first amidst a pile of rubble. Tuxedo Mask leapt from a nearby tree and landed lightly beside her. "Everything alright over here?" he asked with a small smile.

As she looked at him, suddenly Rei's vision blurred…

_She was facing Mamoru, who wore a shabby-looking cloak. His face had several days' stubble and he was pale and gaunt. His lip was bleeding and somehow Rei knew she was the cause. "If it's possible," he said softly, "I'd like to give a message to Princess Serenity as well."_

_A flare of anger exploded inside of her and she raised her flaming sword and swung it down at his head…_

"Mars!" A pair of strong hands was holding her and she realized dimly that Tuxedo Mask was in front of her, arms raised defensively.

She shook her head, blinking the image away. "Mars, what's wrong?" Sailor Moon stepped close in front of her, sky blue eyes searching her own.

"What happened?" she asked weakly, looking around at the others.

"You tried to attack him," Jupiter said through clenched teeth. "What's gotten into you?"

"I saw…" Mars shook her head again and shook off Venus's grasp. She met Mamoru's confused gaze briefly, but couldn't even begin to explain what had happened. "Never mind." She turned to face the creature again, but it was gone.

The others followed her gaze and gasped softly. "Where did it-"

"Behind you!" Mercury screamed. Mars turned as the creature landed heavily, shaking the ground with it's weight. It let out a deafening roar and swiped it's paw at them.

It happened too fast for them to duck. Mars felt a white hot pain shoot down her side and staggered back as her vision blurred. The voices around her were distorted into a static buzz. She tried to keep her footing as a wave of dizziness washed over her.

Someone was talking, and it took a moment to realize the voice was inside of her head. _"I love you so much, Reiko…" _Minako's voice, she realized, whispering to her from another life. _"It'll feel better in the morning."…_

-Minako-

Venus pushed herself up from where she was sprawled in the grass. The body beneath her twitched and she rolled onto her side to let the other girl up. "Are you alright?" she asked quietly, studying her face in concern.

Sailor Moon nodded, offering a shaky smile. "I'm fine." She sat up, wincing, and glanced around. "What about-" she gasped and scrambled to her feet. Minako got up more slowly, following the blonde with her eyes. She dropped to her knees beside Tuxedo Mask. Taking a step closer, she saw that a long spike was protruding from his thigh and his face was alarmingly pale. She looked past him and saw that Makoto had detransformed and was clutching at her shoulder and grimacing in pain.

Minako started toward them, but stopped when she saw Mars stumble out of the corner of her eye. "Mars, are you alright?" She turned to where her comrade was standing stiffly, facing away from her. Mars turned to face her, but her eyes were glazed and unfocused. The entire left side of her fuku was crimson, the color almost blending with the scarlet of her skirt.

"Mars!" Venus stood frozen as the transformation slipped and Rei fell to the ground in front of her, a long gray spike poking though a hole in the front of her shirt. She knelt beside her, feeling numb as she watch her chest rise and fall in shallow pants. She was, thankfully, unconscious. A rumbling growl drew her attention briefly and she realized the youma was advancing on their position.

"We need to get out of here!" Mercury shouted from somewhere to her left. She couldn't seem to move, however. She numbly turned to face her other side where Sailor Moon was kneeling beside Mamoru. Makoto had moved closer to them, but her emerald eyes were focused on her. Minako thought she could see a hint of accusation in her gaze.

Mercury was suddenly kneeling on the ground beside her. "She needs medical attention," she murmured, leaning over Rei's still form.

Venus nodded, numbly getting to her feet. "Take care of her," she ordered, moving past them toward the trees. The youma was pacing back and forth, slowly moving closer to them. It's burning yellow-orange eyes focused on her as she strode toward it.

"Venus, what are you doing?" Sailor Moon cried, choking back a sob. "We've got to retreat!"

Venus simply shook her head. She wouldn't run. Not this time. Steeling herself, she called on a crescent beam and hurled it at the monster's eyes. It reared up, screeching in pain and she took advantage of it's distraction to sprint right up to it. As it came down, one of it's claws caught her in the chest, tearing through the fabric of her fuku. She barely registered the pain as she prepared to launch a love-me chain at it.

"Silence wall!" A shimmering purple barrier appeared between herself and the monster and she stumbled back. She turned to find Sailor Saturn staring past her, her dark eyes glittering as she held her glaive tightly. Behind her, Uranus had picked up Rei and the others were helping the wounded up and back.

She took a shaky breath and became aware of the hot sticky wetness coating the front of her clothing. Looking down, she realized she was in her tank top and jeans from earlier and the slash across her collarbone was oozing blood.

"Come on, Minako," Saturn gestured behind her but kept her wall up. "We're leaving."

Minako staggered forward but stopped beside the younger girl to face the monster once more. A gentle hand landed on her shoulder and she looked up at Sailor Pluto, who was smiling sadly down at her. "I'm sorry," she whispered, looking desperately at the older woman.

Pluto sighed quietly before maneuvering her gently behind them. "Ready Saturn?" she said softly. The smaller girl nodded and tensed. "Now!" She lowered the glaive and dropped the wall, then grabbed Minako's hand and started running away. "Dead Scream!" Minako looked over her shoulder as the monster was blasted back and moments later Pluto was sprinting after them.

"Did you kill it?" Minako asked breathlessly. She shook her head and the three kept running to where the others had gathered at the edge of the park.

"Where are we going?" Michiru asked as soon as they arrived. "Hospital?"

"We can't," Haruka said tensely. "How would we explain this?"

"Take them to the shrine," Minako said between panting breaths. "Rei's grandfather knows about us."

"I'll call my mom and have her meet us there," Ami said, already pulling out her cell phone.

Minako nodded and turned to Haruka, who still held Rei's limp body in her arms. "Is she…" She couldn't bring herself to finish the question as she ran a hand through the girl's sweat-soaked bangs.

"She's alive," Usagi said tearfully.

"I'll drive her to the shrine with Mamoru and Makoto," Haruka said softly. "The rest of you, meet us there."

Minako nodded and turned back to Usagi. Abruptly she pulled the shorter girl into a rough hug. "I messed up," she whispered, blinking back tears. "I'm sorry."

"It was all of us," Usagi replied softly as she held her tighter. "Let's call Luna and Artemis and go back to the shrine." Minako nodded and released her. She swallowed the lump in her throat and followed the others down the darkened street.


	8. Heroes

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading and reviewing!

Chapter 7: Heroes

-Minako-

The only sound was their feet hitting the pavement as they made their way back to the shrine. Minako kept replaying the battle in her mind, particularly the moment where she watched Rei fall. The image of the blood spreading across the material of her girlfriend's shirt was burned into her mind. A similar picture kept surfacing as well: Rei lying on the ground with a gaping hole through her shoulder, her blood reflecting from the shattered edges of chain mail. Somehow she knew that it was her fault, just like now.

She blinked back tears, vaguely registering that they'd reached the base of the shrine steps. Haruka's Porsche was parked crookedly, one wheel up on the sidewalk. Behind it was a green Honda that she recognized as Dr. Mizuno's. She was glad the older woman was already there.

In a blur, she ascended the steps and burst into the shrine's living room. Panting, she looked around the room frantically. Grandpa was kneeling in front of Mamoru, wrapping a bandage around his thigh. The elderly man looked up and gave her a sad smile before returning to his task.

Usagi gasped softly, rushing past Minako to perch on the arm of Mamoru's chair. "I'm alright, Usako," he reassured her through clenched teeth. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and dissolved into tears.

Haruka and Makoto emerged from the hallway, the latter holding a blood-soaked rag to her shoulder. Haruka pulled Michiru into a tight embrace, whispering softly to her. "Mako?" Ami asked tentatively, approaching her.

Makoto gave her a sickly smile. "It looks a lot worse than it is, don't worry." Ami sighed heavily and ushered her to another chair. She retrieved the open first aid kit beside Mamoru and began fussing with the injury.

Minako tore her gaze away from them, focusing on Grandpa as he stood slowly. "I'm so glad you girls are alright," he said quietly, touching her arm. "It's been all over the news."

Minako swallowed the lump in her throat with difficulty. "Where's Rei? Is she-" she couldn't even force herself to finish the sentence. She turned pleading eyes on the old man.

He rubbed a hand over his bald head and sighed. "Dr. Mizuno is tending to her in the back room. She's in a lot of pain but the doctor says she'll be alright." He sat heavily on the couch and focused on the television. Minako nodded and sat tiredly beside him. Needing a distraction, she turned her attention to the news cast.

The reporter was standing across the street from the park they'd just left, gesturing toward it. The headline below her read: Attack in the Park; Sailor Scouts Defeated.

Minako scowled at the words. "Could you turn that up?" Ami asked, settling on Minako's other side. Makoto wordlessly sat on the floor in front of her, gingerly adjusting the sling around her neck.

Haruka adjusted the volume then took the remaining arm chair. Michiru sat in her lap and everyone's attention turned to the broadcast. "A monster was sighted in this park earlier in the evening," she woman announced. "Tokyo's beloved heroines, the Sailor Scouts, were reportedly on the scene. This rare footage of the battle was taken by a passer-by." The scene changed to a grainy video of the park and the occupants of the room gasped softly. The video was shot from far away, but it was enough. Minako grimaced as she watched the youma emerge from the trees. It seemed surreal, seeing the battle like this. Minako watched as the monster attacked, then Tuxedo Mask's timely rescue. She bit her lip as she watched Mars lunge at him and was happy the video didn't have sound. She flinched violently as she one of the monster's spikes impaled the fire soldier.

Abruptly the image went to static and the reporter's image returned. "An electrical interference cut the feed short, but it's clear that the battle went badly. The monster is still on the loose and the area has been evacuated." the reporter clutched her microphone and looked beseechingly at the camera. "Where ever you are Sailor Scouts, we hope you're alright. Tokyo needs you."

Minako stood up and, not looking at anyone, strode out onto the front porch. She didn't need another reminder of her failure. Hotaru and Setsuna were talking quietly and looked up at her approach. She gave them a weak smile before turning away to lean on the railing. Behind her, the door opened and closed.

She jumped when a hand landed lightly on her shoulder and she turned to see Setsuna watching her. "It wasn't your fault," the older woman said gently.

Minako snorted derisively. "Yes, it was. I let them down. Again…" She didn't bother to wipe the tears that cascaded down her cheeks. "You never should have made me the leader. I wasn't fit for it then and I'm not now."

Setsuna sighed heavily and moved to lean on the railing next to her. "We _didn't _make you the leader."

Minako frowned up at the older woman. "What do you mean?" she asked in a choked voice. "I thought-"

But Setsuna didn't let her finish. "Back then, we didn't give any of you ranks. _They _made you their leader." She looked down at her, smiling slightly. "You deserved the title then and you still do."

Minako turned her gaze back to the dark outlines of the trees. "They were wrong."

Setsuna was silent for a moment. Finally, she patted her shoulder lightly. "I don't think so, but it's what you think that matters. You'll see." With that, she left the younger girl to her thoughts.

Minako sighed heavily, wiping her eyes miserably as she moved to sit on the bottom step. The door opened again but she didn't bother turning around. "Minako?" It was Usagi. Minako dropped her head slightly, too ashamed to even look at the other girl.

Usagi sat close beside her and Minako turned enough to see that she was twisting the first aid kit over in her hands. "We should clean that out so it doesn't get infected," she said softly.

Minako looked down, remembering for the first time the ragged tear over her collarbone. She shook her head sadly. "Leave it. It doesn't matter."

To her surprise, Usagi grasped her uninjured shoulder and turned her roughly so they were facing each other. "Don't talk like that! What happened tonight was all of our fault, not yours. We're a team and whether we win or lose, we do it together." Minako met her gaze finally. Her expression was earnest and pained.

Her eyes flicked to the bandage above her friend's eye. "Are you alright?" she asked, lifting her fingers to the wound.

Usagi smiled gently. "I'll be fine. Now please, let me help you."

Minako conceded with another soft sigh and turned her body more toward Usagi. She felt too numb to even flinch as her friend dabbed at the wound with a strong-smelling cotton ball. She let her gaze drift past the other girl to the darkened courtyard, trying to make her mind go blank.

"How's that?" Usagi asked quietly, bringing Minako back to the present.

Minako glanced down at her torn shirt, noting vaguely the row of white bandages against her tan skin. She nodded, offering her friend the ghost of a smile. "What do you remember about me?" She bit her lip as soon as the words were out; she hadn't meant to say anything.

Usagi frowned, dropping her gaze to her lap. "About Princess Venus? Just bits and pieces." She shrugged and moved to stand, but Minako caught her wrist.

"Please tell me," she whispered. "Even if it was bad, I have to know." She waited until Usagi was looking directly at her to voice the question that had haunted her. "Are you in love with Rei?"

Usagi stared at her in mute shock for a moment. "What?" she finally choked out.

Minako's jaw clenched and she swallowed the first angry retort that came to mind. She glanced at the front door briefly before continuing. "Were you… Was _she _in love with Princess Mars?"

Usagi stared at her for a long moment before sighing. "I don't remember everything." She caught one of her ponytails and began fidgeting with it. Minako followed the movements with her eyes, willing herself to stay calm. "But I remembered some things our last night at the cabin."

"When we were playing that game," Minako murmured almost to herself. She glanced at her friends face to see her nod.

"When we came back from the kitchen." _And saw Rei and I kissing_, Minako mentally finished. "I remembered what the Princess felt for her." Usagi met her eyes again. "And for you."

Minako grimaced, thinking back to her own memories of the Princess. She could still see the fear and hatred in her expression. Even the memory stirred her own anger and resentment. She didn't want to know why, but she couldn't stand not knowing any more. "You hated me."

Usagi nodded and Minako looked away sharply. The confirmation hurt almost as much as when she'd first realized it. "She was jealous," Usagi said quietly. "Mars was so loyal; the most loyal of all of you. She made the Princess feel safe and cared for. But Mars was in love with Venus and the Princess hated her for it. "

"And I knew," Minako whispered. Her vision blurred and she blinked back the sudden tears. "I knew how you felt about her and it made me hate you too." She gasped softly as the afternoon's conversation came back. She met Usagi's shining eyes in awe. "She died protecting you. That was why I walked away."

Usagi smiled sadly, wiping at the tears now trickling down her own cheeks. "She died protecting them both. She was loyal to the Princess, but she loved Venus. She sacrificed herself to save them both."

Minako shook her head as she thought over Usagi's words. Rei had been even more of a hero than she'd thought. And she was even worse a coward. Minako closed her eyes for a moment.

"Minako?" She felt Usagi's hand on her shoulder and fought the urge to shake her off. "Minako," she said again, grasping her upper arms tightly.

Finally she forced herself to look at her friend. "I don't deserve her," she breathed, ignoring the tears cascading down her face. "And I don't deserve to fight beside any of you."

She stood, twisting out of Usagi's grip, and started toward the shrine steps. She was so ashamed it made her chest ache. She'd failed them in the past, and Rei was hurt again because of her. She numbly started down the steps when a voice stopped her.

"Minako." She turned to find Artemis standing on the top step, watching her.

She turned away and swiped furiously at her tear-stained cheeks. "Leave me alone." She took another step and heard the soft rustle of leaves as he followed her.

"Minako," he said again. "Where are you going?"

She turned again to glare at him but couldn't put any real force behind it. She sighed and sat heavily on the step. "I don't know," she mumbled. "Nowhere…"

"Don't you want to know the rest of what happened back then?"

She braced her elbows on her knees and leaned forward to bury her face in her hands. "I guess," she murmured between her fingers.

"You guess?" Artemis echoed, moving closer to her. She shrugged but gave no other answer. "Well, some of what you know is true." She twisted to glance at him but he was sitting beside her staring up at the stars. "It was a perfect time. The kingdoms prospered, the people were happy and the entire empire was at peace."

Then, there was a prophesy: A darkness would come that could only be fought by the light of the Moon Princess. It implied that she should be protected by the ones who held the power of the other planets, which we took to mean the other princesses."

Minako lifted her head to look up at the sky but was disappointed to find clouds obscuring her view. Even though she couldn't see it, she continued to watch the spot where she thought Venus would be.

"So," Artemis continued, "One princess from each planet was brought to the Moon to train as a guard for Serenity. The prophesy had mentioned the spirits of four of the planets so we took those four and separated them from everything except their new duty to the Princess."

"That's why Haruka and Michiru don't remember very much of us." Minako yelped and nearly tumbled down the stone steps as a voice sounded behind her. She twisted to find Makoto and Ami sitting on the step behind her. "Sorry," Makoto added with a sheepish smile. "I didn't mean to startle you."

"How long have you two been there?" Minako demanded shakily. She shifted so she could lean her arm on the next step up.

"Not long," Ami replied. "Usagi came inside without you so we wanted to know where you went." Minako eyed them for a moment before turning back to Artemis.

"Do you want me to keep going?" he asked, looking between them. There were three murmurs of assent and he nodded. "Luna and I were instructed to train all of you. It was difficult at first, because you were all so different." He smiled briefly at the memory. "Eventually, though, you bonded with each other and with Serenity."

He fell silent and Minako found herself scooting closer, wanting to hear more. "So what happened?" Makoto asked just above a whisper.

Artemis flicked his tail in irritation and his expression hardened. "Our world began to fall apart anyway. The darkness the prophesy spoke of was a power bred from greed and a desire for power, and it crept into everything. Alliances failed, long-time friends betrayed each other and, before we knew it, entire planets were in danger."

"Everything that happened just drew the five of you closer together." They all turned to see Luna descending the steps toward them. She took a seat beside Artemis, studying them all pensively. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine," Minako muttered. Her own well being was the furthest thing from her mind at the moment.

Luna smiled tiredly at her. "As Luna said," Artemis continued, "Everything that happened only pushed you all closer. We thought it was for the best, after all you were supposed to be the wall around the Princess. But we didn't think about the consequences of cutting you off from everything else."

Minako was completely enthralled in the story. Judging by Ami and Makoto's silence, they were as well. She was sure that the answers were here somewhere.

"I suppose it was inevitable," Luna continued, "but we realized that you'd become even closer than we'd planned. You loved each other, you were _in_ love with each other, and you wouldn't tolerate anyone else getting close to Serenity. So when she began to fall in love herself, it nearly destroyed you."

"I've always thought that was the beginning of our failure," Artemis said softly. "Maybe if we'd been honest then, none of the rest of it would have happened." Minako had the urge to reach out to him, but stopped herself. He let out a soft breath. "She fell in love with the Prince of Earth and it created a rift between you."

"I remember that," Ami said quietly. "We fought with him, and told him to stay away from her. We didn't trust his motives."

"Right," Luna agreed, "Serenity didn't believe you and we kept you all in the dark. It's no surprise that you went for your own answers, distancing yourselves from us in the process."

"We went to Earth," Makoto chimed in. Minako twisted to find the brunette leaning forward excitedly. "We went to find out what they were hiding and got attacked."

Abruptly an image appeared in Minako's head: Rei's eyes widening in shock as a black spear-like weapon plunged through her back, shattering her chain-mail as it impaled her. She gasped and pressed her palms over her eyes, trying to force the vision back. "Rei was attacked," she murmured.

"And badly injured," Luna added. Minako dropped her hands to stare at the cat. "Venus was as well."

"Her hand," Ami said slowly. "She almost bled to death."

"I remember," Minako mumbled, looking down at her left hand. She turned it over and could almost see the faint outline of a thick scar spiraling up her wrist. She dropped her hand to her lap and returned her attention to the cats. "What's happening?"

"The barriers we put in your memories are fading," Artemis replied. "The more we tell you, the more you're going to remember."

"Are you sure you want us to keep going?" Luna implored, staring up at her. Minako gritted her teeth and nodded. She had to know.

Artemis cleared his throat and continued. "After that, things happened faster. We began hearing about attacks on nearly every planet and refugees from the furthest away began coming to the Moon. Serenity was heartbroken over the events on Earth and the consequent resentment and mistrust. We were still hiding things from you, thinking we were protecting your innocence. The four of you continued on as best you could but, as time went on, you became more isolated from everyone around you."

"Things came to a head when Jupiter was attacked." Luna glanced up at Makoto at this. "The five of you went to the Jovian's aid yourselves, rather than trust someone else to go. It was a statement of how little faith you had in anyone but each other. From there you traveled to Venus, narrowly escaping both planets with your lives."

"That was when we realized what we'd done by forcing you all together," Artemis picked up. "Princess Mercury refused to let Jupiter go on a dangerous mission alone, and Princess Mars was willing to risk everything without a second thought to protect Venus." Artemis smiled at Minako briefly. "It was because you were in love with each other."

"Was that what you didn't want us to remember?" Ami asked in a small voice. Minako turned to find her comrades carefully not touching each other as they waited for an answer.

Luna didn't seem to notice their reaction as she continued with her tale. "No, it was how _we _reacted that led to what happened. You'd put the Princess in danger for the ones you loved. So we decided that you shouldn't be allowed to love. Your duty was to protect Serenity"

Minako gasped softly. She couldn't believe what Luna had just revealed. "Not allowed to love?" she repeated in shock. "You expected us to just forget our feelings like that?"

Artemis hung his head sadly. "At the time, it seemed like the only course. We were facing the end of everything we'd ever known."

"It was a mistake," Luna added quietly. "We realized it too late." Everyone was silent as they processed her words. Finally she looked up at them again. "That was why we hid your past from you. We needed you to be able to trust us. And we wanted the Princess to be able to trust you."

Minako felt herself deflate at that. The Princess hadn't trusted them either, she remembered. As much as Luna and Artemis had lied to them, they'd lied to her too. Minako got stiffly to her feet and stepped past the others toward the shrine.

"Minako?" Artemis questioned softly.

"I'm alright," she said quickly, flashing him a small reassuring smile. "There's just something I have to do."

She trudged down the path, trying to work out exactly what she was going to say. Every minute, more memories were coming back to her and it was becoming difficult to separate the past and present. When she walked into the sitting room, she found the others all silently watching the television. Haruka and Michiru were cuddled together in the arm chair. Hotaru was stretched on the couch with her head in Setsuna's lap and her feet behind Mamoru's back. The five of them glanced up in unison when she walked in.

Setsuna studied her for a moment then smiled. "They're in the back bedroom."

Minako nodded her thanks and continued on through the room. The door was open a crack and she paused there, listening. Inside the only sound was an occasional sniffle. She sighed guiltily and quietly pushed the door open.

The room was dark except for a small candle flickering on the night table. Usagi was sitting on a chair next to the bed with her head down. If not for the subtle tremble of her shoulders, Minako would have thought she was sleeping. She glanced at the bed and found Rei sleeping peacefully with the blankets pulled up past her shoulders. Her face was untroubled so Minako had to assume she was alright.

"Usagi?" she whispered. The blonde jumped and nearly knocked her chair over in her effort to twist around. "Sorry," Minako breathed, inching closer.

"It's alright," Usagi replied hastily, trying to covertly wipe her eyes. Minako decided to give her a moment, instead opting to sit carefully on the edge of Rei's bed. She brushed a lock of dark hair from her forehead, examining her relaxed features. "Dr. Mizuno gave her something to help her sleep," Usagi said quietly. Minako turned away reluctantly to face her friend. "Do you want me to go?" Usagi asked, not looking at her.

Minako sighed. "No, I thought maybe we could talk." Usagi swallowed audibly and fixed shining blue eyes on her. "I just…" Minako let out a soft breath and forced herself to continue. "I'm sorry."

Usagi frowned. "You didn't do anything, Minako."

"Yea, I did," she said dully. "I've been so wrapped up in the past life I let it affect the present. If I hadn't let things get so out of hand, maybe we could have won tonight." As she spoke, images began to bombard her mind. She saw Usagi glaring accusingly at her, then she was crying brokenly, then backing away from her in fear. Minako shook her head, scattering tears as she tried to force the memories away. She could still see the helplessness in Usagi's eyes as she crouched beside Rei's body. She saw herself back away as the other girl reached out to her. Her own voice was so loud in her mind, she could have been saying the words aloud right then_. "Stay away from me. This whole kingdom can fall; the whole Empire. I don't care any more." _She choked back a sob, closing her eyes against the painful words.

Abruptly, Usagi pulled her into a tight embrace. "_You _don't have anything to apologize for." Slowly, the images faded and Minako wrapped her arms around her friend. As she did so, the memories seemed to separate and dull. She kept her eyes closed, resting her forehead against Usagi's shoulder. Slowly she felt a warmth spread through her and, for the first time all day, she felt calm.

"I remember what happened too," Usagi continued, her voice slightly muffled by Minako's hair. "Everything that happened, the pain and betrayal and mistrust, they were Princess Serenity's fault too. And she hated Princess Venus." At her words, Minako felt fresh tears form. Usagi pushed her back slightly and waited until she met her eyes. "But Minako, she isn't me. And you're not Princess Venus."

"I don't understand," Minako whispered hoarsely, still trying desperately not to break down in tears.

Usagi smiled, still holding her shoulders tightly. "We have their spirits, their souls, but that's it. Their actions made them who they were just as ours do. And your actions today… you _chose _to protect me, Minako."

Minako bit her lip lightly as she thought over her words. She was right, she realized. With everything else that had happened, she hadn't considered her own reaction earlier. When Ami had shouted her warning, she'd let her instinct take over. _And my instinct was to protect Sailor Moon_, she realized. She focused on Usagi again and found her smiling triumphantly. She opened her mouth but couldn't find words. Usagi's smile just widened. "I know I'm right," she said lightly, patting Minako on the shoulder.

Minako shook her head, a grin forming despite the situation. "Yea, I guess so," she muttered. Her smile faded and she looked seriously at her friend. "So, you forgive me?"

Usagi pulled her into another hug. "There's nothing to forgive."

They broke apart at a soft groan from Rei. They immediately moved to kneel next to each other by the bed. Her eyes cracked open and she surveyed them blearily. "Venus?" she murmured. "Princess Serenity?"

They glanced at each other briefly and smiled. Minako stroked the side of Rei's face lightly with her palm. "No, it's just Minako and Usagi," she whispered. Rei nodded trustingly and her eyes drifted closed again. After another minute her breathing evened out and Minako sat back. It was true, she realized. Whatever mistakes had been made then weren't hers. Maybe it was finally time to let the past go.


	9. Past is Past

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

A/N: Thanks everyone for reading, especially if you left a review! I know the last chapter was a lot more talk than action, but it had to be done... Don't worry, this one is more exciting! Enjoy :)

Chapter 8: Past is Past

-Rei-

_ Shadows were moving around her, but Rei was having a hard time focusing on them. The voices were familiar and she knew she would recognize the faces, if only she could see them clearly. Her feet felt numb as she walked down a strange hallway. The floors and walls were a blinding white, and at the far end was a white door with something written on it. She tilted her head, walking closer to it until the blurred lines suddenly sharpened and she was staring at a crescent moon. She blinked, looking back at the impossibly white, now empty hallway. Then it dawned on her. "Because everything was white," she murmured to herself, " in the Moon palace."_

_The minute the words were out, everything else snapped into focus. She turned away from the door with the crescent, noticing for the first time that there were other doors with other symbols. One of them opened and Minako stepped out, looking ruffled as though she'd just woken up. She walked a few steps, looking around blearily, then stopped. She scowled past Rei, presumably at the crescent door, and spun on her heel. Rei opened her mouth to say something but the door next to her was abruptly thrown open. It connected solidly with Minako's face, causing her to yelp in pain. Rei grimaced as she watched the blonde's hand fly to her eye. She had just enough time to notice the bright red symbol on the door before it was pulled closed._

_"What the hell?" Minako demanded, glaring at the girl who had just emerged._

That's me, _Rei realized, staring at the girl in black. She heard her mumble some sort of apology but wasn't paying attention to the words. She took a step closer but neither girl was aware of her presence._

_"Well of course not! The door opens out, that's why you're not supposed to fling them off their hinges when you come out!" Minako shouted, clearly outraged. _

_Rei looked between them in confusion. "Minako?" she finally whispered. It felt too strange to address her other self. The minute she spoke, however, both girls faded and disappeared._

_She frowned and took a hesitant step forward. The red crest of Mars stood out brightly against the white all around it. Cautiously, she pulled the door open and peered inside. _

_There she was again, this time sitting on the bed. "Not me," she breathed, inching further into the room, "Princess Mars."_

_Pieces of black armor were strewn along the wall but Mars was staring past them, amethyst eyes haunted. She was bleeding, each drop that slipped from her shaking hands disappeared into the crimson carpet. Minako appeared out of nowhere and sat down beside her, silently cleaning the wounds._

_Rei tore her gaze away and backed out, shaking her head. Why was she here? None of this mattered any more._

_She continued down the hall but paused at the shining yellow crest of Venus. She considered opening that door but, at the last second, turned to the one behind her instead. Mercury. She eased it open and peered inside. _

_They were all there this time. Ami was sitting on a dark blue bed with a computer open on her lap. Makoto was standing by the wall with her arms crossed, looking tense. Usagi was beside her, wringing her hands nervously as she watched something on the other side of the room. Rei followed her gaze and found Mars and Venus standing close together. "Do the Jovians know they're about to be attacked?" she heard herself ask._

_There was a sharp squeal behind her and she jumped back out into the hallway. Makoto was careening toward her and Rei instinctively pressed herself back against the wall. The tall girl sped past and Rei watched in alarm as she crashed into Minako and both girls collapsed in a pile. "What the…" she muttered, staring down at them. She realized the hallway floor was frozen solid. She guessed what had probably happened just as they did. "Ami," she chuckled quietly._

_"Ami!" Makoto's voice shouted at the same moment. Rei turned toward her again but she was gone. The hallway was pristine and silent once more._

_Swallowing her nervousness, Rei again focused on the door in front of her. She was tired of not knowing. Whatever had happened, it couldn't be worse than the shadow that had been hanging over them all since the memories had started. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the door open and stepped in._

_She choked on the air as she took in the room's occupants. Herself and Minako, both very naked, were cuddled in bed together. "S- sorry," she hissed, backing away. "I mean…" should she be apologizing for interrupting herself? Rei squeezed her eyes shut._

_"I wish we could stay like this forever," she heard Minako say softly._

_Rei kept her eyes tightly shut as she fumbled for the doorknob. She all but fell back into the hallway and leaned back against the far wall. She could feel herself blushing and covered her face with both hands, trying to get her breathing back under control. Someday, she would be with Minako in that way, but she wanted the real Minako. Not her._

_"What am I doing here?" she murmured between her fingers. "What was it that they couldn't let us know?"_

_She heard heavy footsteps approach and stop in front of her. Reluctantly she dropped her hands and lifted her head. "Why are you looking _here_?" Rei couldn't find an answer as she stared at the fierce-looking girl in front of her. She was wearing chain mail over black leather and heavy plated boots. Her ebony hair hung loose around her shoulders, except two thin braids at her temple. She noticed a long gash that passed through the end of an ebony eyebrow and next to her eye on the same side. A droplet of blood slid slowly down her cheek but she ignored it._

_"P- Princess Mars?" Rei choked out, staring at her younger self in shock._

_The girl huffed softly and crossed her arms. Her amethyst eyes raked over her in appraisal and she nodded once. "There's nothing here that will help," she snapped, turning away._

_"Wait!" Rei caught her shoulder and the girl spun around, drawing her sword. Rei immediately let go, holding up her hands in surrender. "Please, just tell me what I'm supposed to see? What am I doing here?"_

_The young warrior studied her in silence before lowering her blade. "There's nothing to see. You already know all of this." She sheathed her sword with a sharp snap and glared at nothing. "It's too late to change what happened, anyway." With that she strode down the hall and out of sight._

_Rei stared around helplessly but the oppressive whiteness didn't seem to have anything else to reveal. She straightened and started down the hall in the direction the other girl had gone. She'd only gone a few steps when voices caught her attention. The tense discussion was coming from the door on her left, this one unmarked. _

_She stepped inside and looked around. She had a brief impression of some sort of living room with two couches and a table. Then her view was obscured as a head of blonde hair appeared directly in front of her. Rei stepped sideways so she could see around Usagi. Her bright blue eyes were uncharacteristically hard as she surveyed the other occupants of the room. Ami and Makoto were sitting together on one of the couches, the former staring down at a book in her lap. Makoto offered a tentative greeting but Usagi ignored her._

Princess Serenity_, Reminded herself. This was not the girl she knew._

_The Princess stopped in the middle of the room. Rei saw herself again, this time sitting at a chair by the table. Minako was standing behind her, her hands clenched on her shoulders. Mars looked ready to cry as she stared up at the Princess. Rei stood frozen by the door. It was hard to see someone who looked so much like Usagi act so different._

_"Mars," she said evenly, "I wanted to talk to you about last night." Rei flinched along with Mars at the cold words. She dropped her gaze to the floor and, when she looked up again, the room was empty._

_She growled in frustration. "What's the point of this?" she yelled at the empty room. "I don't care about the past! Nothing that happened here has anything to do with who I am now!"_

_"Are you sure about that?"_

_She jumped and spun to face the source of the voice. Her eyes narrowed as she stared at yet another copy of herself. The girl was wearing shining black armor and a crimson cloak clasped at the shoulder. This Mars had short hair cut just above her shoulders. The long braids were still there tucked behind her ear, except now there were three. The angry gash had healed into a long scar down the side of her face. She offered a half smile which Rei didn't return._

_"What do you want with me?" she demanded, crossing her arms._

_Mars mirrored her pose, keeping her expression the same. Rei's eyes darted down to her hands, which both had crisscrossing scars over the knuckles. She brought her gaze back to her face. It was strange, like looking in a mirror that wasn't quite right. "Why am I here?"_

_Mars shrugged and looked past here. "I have no idea." Rei let out an irritated breath but the other girl continued before she could speak. "You should be outside. That's where _he _is." She jerked her head over her shoulder to indicate the door._

_Rei looked at the door then back to her double. "Who?"_

_Mars scowled fiercely, eyes flashing in pure hate. "The Prince," she explained through clenched teeth. "Endymion."_

_Rei gasped at the realization. There was something she'd brought with her from the past. And it didn't have anything to do with Minako or Usagi. "That's why I attacked him today," she whispered._

_"You attacked him?" Mar asked, holding the door open and gesturing Rei through. Rei nodded numbly, her mind on the events of earlier. "Good." Mars was smiling viciously and Rei looked away from the unsettling sight as she stepped through the door. _

_Abruptly, she found herself in the middle of the street. Mars was no longer next to her, instead the soldier was standing at an intersection near a white stone wall with her back to her. Rei looked around at the small village as she walked over to her guide. It was picturesque and she could almost forget the circumstances around her visit._

_"Son of a bitch!" she hears Mars snarl. The soldier took a step toward the town and now Rei could see that Ami had been standing next to her. The shorter girl caught Mars' arm calmly and said something Rei couldn't hear. Then she lifted a powder blue device to her mouth as Mars watched something across the street._

_"Do you see him?" Rei asked as she got close. The soldier ignored her completely, even when Rei stopped beside her. _

_Minako's tinny voice spoke from Mars' other side. "We're about halfway to the Jovian camp so we'll swing around and come down the main road from the north. What are we looking for, Mercury?"_

_Rei looked around at Ami, who frowned. "Prince Endymion," she replied darkly. Ami turned toward the street and finally Rei saw him. He was wearing a cloak with the hood pulled up but she caught a brief glimpse of an unshaven, wide-eyed Mamoru. She frowned as both soldiers took off, stealthily following him as he ducked into an alley._

_She ran after them, fighting her way through the blinding smoke that was billowing out of the alley mouth. "Don't try anything, you're surrounded," she heard Minako call out. Abruptly the fog dissipated and she managed to skid to a halt before she ran into Makoto's emerald cloaked back. Ami was next to her holding a lethal looking rifle up to her shoulder._

_"Get down on your knees and put your hands behind your back," Minako ordered from the other side of the alley. Rei edged around Ami so she could watch as Minako approaching the gaunt figure. Rei couldn't help but stare for a moment. With the golden glow of her weapons shining off her hair and armor she looked like some kind of ancient goddess. Rei tried to burn that image into her memory._

_Then she looked past Minako to herself. The expression on Mars' face as she looked at the prince was terrifying. She seemed almost inhuman, and there was a bloodlust that Rei could only hope had never appeared in her own eyes._

_She walked closer so she could see Mamoru's face. He was dirty and unkempt, but still the man she knew. His deep blue eyes had dark circles beneath them. Her vision blurred at the edges and whatever Minako had said was lost in a sudden rushing sound. Rei looked around frantically, unsure what was happening. She shook her head and the world lurched briefly before returning to normal._

_When she looked at the prince again, he had a trickle of blood running down his chin. "Which one of you is the leader?" he asked tiredly. Rei looked up to see herself, Makoto and Ami all look immediately to Minako. She smiled to herself. Minako quickly covered her surprise and stared him down. She opened her mouth but once again, a rushing filled Rei's ears. She stepped back and felt a rising panic as the color began to drain out of her surroundings. _

_She blinked rapidly, but the gray only continued to spread. There was a sound like static and she saw Mars snarl and lunge forward, bring her sword down toward the helpless prisoner…_

Rei gasped and sat up, then immediately fell back as pain shot through her body. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing her heart rate to go back to normal. She moved her hand up the side of her body carefully until her fingers ran over cloth tape. She slowly opened her eyes, allowing them to adjust to the dim, flickering light in the room. She realized she was in her own bedroom at the shrine. "A dream," she breathed, relaxing slightly.

"Rei?" The familiar voice shot a jolt through her and her head snapped toward the source. Mamoru was standing in the middle of the room, clutching a blanket tightly to his chest. "I'm so sorry," he whispered, "I didn't mean to wake you."

"It's…" Rei couldn't finish the sentence. The past and present were swirling together in her mind and she could feel an echo of her old self. _You attacked him? _A vicious, familiar voice asked. _Good_.

Rei closed her eyes to force the voice away. I am not her, she reminded herself. When she opened her eyes, Mamoru had moved closer and was watching her in concern. "Are you in pain?" he asked quietly. "Can I get you something?"

"What are you doing?" Rei finally managed.

He looked down at the blanket he was still holding and smiled sheepishly. "Oh yea." He held the ends and carefully draped it across the floor. Rei managed to push herself up enough to see what he was doing. The scene was heartwarming in more ways than she really understood. "They fell asleep in here," Mamoru explained as he adjusted the blanket so it covered Minako and Usagi, who were both asleep on the floor. Minako was sitting up with her back against the wall and Usagi was curled into her side with her head resting on Minako's shoulder. Both were snoring imperceptivity. "They were really worried about you."

"I'm alright," Rei grumbled, falling back onto the pillows. Mamoru limped over and braced a hand against the wall. "Are you?" she asked, eyeing his pale face and shadowed eyes. He looked almost the same as then, she realized.

He shrugged and offered a pained smile. "I'll be okay," he reassured her. "You're the one that had everyone scared. Dr. Mizuno left some tea for you if you woke up. Would you like me to get it?"

Rei started to respond but he was already limping out of the room. She stared up at the ceiling, thinking over the dream and it's possible meanings. She'd never been more thankful for her training. She was able to recall her dreams as easily as real life and she was sure that something in this one was crucial. Setsuna and the cats obviously hadn't wanted her to remember the hatred Mars had harbored for Endymion. She sifted through the newly returned memories but the last one she had of him was of him sitting shackled in a chair. It had been an interrogation, she remembered. _But what happened after that_, she wondered. _Why didn't we ever resolve this?_

Mamoru came limping back a few minutes later, moving painfully slow in an attempt to balance a steaming cup of tea. Rei braced herself on an elbow and attempted to push herself into a sitting position. Mamoru set the cup down and moved to help her. She had to fight not to flinch away from him.

Once she was settled, she took a small sip of the tea. It had a medicinal tinge but wasn't terrible. She took another small sip but kept an eye on Mamoru as he shifted his weight awkwardly. "Um… how is it?" he asked after a moment. He twitched like he wanted to move closer then thought better of it.

"Fine," Rei murmured as she watched him. His eyes strayed to the two sleeping blondes then returned reluctantly to her. "Something wrong?" she asked mildly.

He chuckled nervously, running a hand through his dark hair. "Right," he muttered, "psychic…" She arched an eyebrow at him and he blushed faintly. Then he sighed and hobbled over to her desk. He slid the chair across the floor then sat, stretching his injured leg out. "Can I ask you something?" She nodded and set the half finished tea on the nightstand. "Do you remember the past life?"

Rei was glad she wasn't holding the hot liquid any more, she might have dropped it. "Some," she replied vaguely. In truth, she'd been able to remember everything since she'd woken up. She wondered what had changed in the time she'd been asleep; it had to be more than just the dream she'd had.

Mamoru nodded and leaned forward, watching her earnestly. "I've been remembering it all night. Apparently Setsuna unlocked a barrier in our minds." He shook his head. "I thought I already knew what happened back then but…"

"What do you remember now?" Rei sat forward despite herself. Perhaps he could fill in the gaps at the end of their last life.

He shrugged, frowning at nothing. "My time in the Earth kingdom, a few visits to the Moon…" he reluctantly met her gaze again. "Princess Serenity and her Royal Guards."

Rei bit back the first response that came to mind. "I've been telling everyone the same thing," she said instead. "We aren't those people. Their lives and the choices they made shouldn't be affecting us." _They shouldn't_, a voice in her head reminded her, _but they are_.

Mamoru seemed to be thinking along the same lines. "I talked to Usa earlier. She said you've all been remembering things for the last week." Rei nodded but didn't say anything. He bit his lip, apparently choosing his words carefully. "I didn't understand why it had her so upset, but I think I do now. I was… I wasn't very nice to any of you."

"He wasn't," Rei specified, "but-"

"I remember what happened now," he interrupted. "It was all part of Metallia and Beryl's plan to get the Silver Crystal. I think that's why I always connected that crystal to my memories, even before I knew. But I did love her, even then." He sighed and glanced at Usagi again, looking stricken. "I'm sure of that, even if I didn't go about it the right way at first."

Rei gave him a humorless smile. "Do you remember when we came to Earth?" He nodded and Rei was a little amused to see his cheeks flush. "I was unconscious for a lot of it," she reminded him with a smirk.

"Right," he murmured, swallowing audibly. "Queen Metallia sent a youma to kill all of you. I took her with me so she wouldn't get hurt." He paused, shooting her a guilty look.

"It's alright, we were just something else to come between you." Rei remembered the interrogation and his tearful retelling of what had transpired that night. "I don't remember what happened to you, though." He looked confused so she elaborated. "You were with Us- Princess Serenity the night we all died, but I don't remember seeing you."

He nodded, his eyes going unfocused as he thought back to that night. "It was a masquerade." Rei nodded, an image of Minako in a sparkling red mask coming to mind. "The Queen let me go. She gave me a mask and asked me to protect her, if I could. I saw you and Minako, but you didn't see me. We danced but she was upset and we ended up out on the balcony."

"The balcony," Rei echoed, thinking. That seemed to be the one common point for everyone. "We found her there," she said slowly. Then she met his gaze in confusion. "You weren't there."

"Kunzite found us first," he replied. She remembered seeing Kunzite. She and Minako had fought the generals, but Kunzite had slipped past them. "He thought I was there to help him finish of the princess," Mamoru murmured, eyes wide as he stared at the far wall. "I stabbed him… and we both fell over the balcony…"

Rei tried to remember the details of those last moments. He'd slipped away through the curtains, but when they'd followed him the only one there was Serenity. "You… he really was on her side in the end," she whispered in awe. She thought back to the Mars from her dreams; the Mars that was still a part of her. "We never knew…"

Mamoru reached out, swiping his thumb along her cheek. It came away wet and Rei realized she was crying. She looked away, hastily wiping her eyes. She thought back to her last memory of him: staring down at him in fury in the interrogation room. The memory no longer stirred the ghost of white hot anger, it was just a picture in her mind. With a start, she realized that Mars' hatred of the Earth prince was finally buried.

She gave him a watery smile. "I'm sorry about earlier," she said sheepishly. She was referring to what had happened at the park, but she realized the words had a double meaning. "And for _way _earlier," she added with a smirk.

"Me too," he said with a weak chuckle. "For everything."

"Aw!" Usagi's voice startled them both. "You guys should hug!" Rei glanced over to find her watching them tearfully with her hands clasped tightly in front of her.

Minako chuckled, getting stiffly to her feet. "You should," she agreed. "_We _did." She gestured to Usagi, whose expression was similar to the one she got when watching a sappy movie. Rei rolled her eyes but allowed Mamoru to engulf her in a tight hug. She winced when her side flared in protest but still hugged him back.

"Aw!" Usagi cried again, "So sweet!" She bounded to her feet and wrapped her arms around Mamoru's neck.

Minako laughed softly at the display and sat on the edge of the bed. Her cerulean eyes raked over her and Rei smiled and tugged her closer. "You're feeling better?" Minako asked as she cuddled closer.

"Mmm," Rei agreed, kissing her temple lightly. Minako pulled away and gave her a guilty stare. "It wasn't your fault." She looked like she might argue so Rei silenced her with a kiss.

"So cute!" They broke apart to throw a mock glare at Usagi. She ignored them, instead throwing herself on them and pulling them both into a tight hug.

Rei grunted in pain and she pulled back contritely. "Sorry!" she wailed, immediately tearing up again. "I'm just so-"

"It's fine, Odango," Rei grumbled, pulling her back into the hug.

The door opened and Rei looked around the mass of blonde hair to see Setsuna poke her head into the room uncertainly. "From all the yelling in here, we thought something might have happened." She arched an eyebrow, noting the two blondes on the bed with Rei. "But now I see you're fine." Rei blushed and moved to gingerly disentangle herself.

"Setsuna!" Usagi cried, leaping off the bed and throwing herself at the older woman. Her garnet eyes widened in surprise but she smiled indulgently as she held the weeping blonde. "You know we could never hate you!" she wailed between sobs. "Everything's going to be okay now, you'll see."

Minako sat up and smiled at the display. Rei shifted so she could swing her feet over the edge of the bed. Setsuna raised her eyes from Usagi to shoot them a questioning look. Rei smiled at her, trying to convey without words that: yes, it would be okay now.

When Usagi had calmed down, Setsuna spoke. "Rei, if you're feeling better all of you should come out to the living room. I think you'll be interested in what your grandfather found." With that she turned back the way she'd come. Usagi and Mamoru exchanged a look and followed.

Minako touched Rei's side lightly. "Are you sure you're feeling better?" Rei nodded and allowed her girlfriend to help her to her feet. "I'm sure." Despite that, she didn't complain when Minako maneuvered herself under her left arm to support her as she walked. They made their way slowly out to the main room to find that everyone was gathered in a circle on the floor.

"How are you feeling, Rei?" her grandfather asked as he hobbled toward them. He laid a calloused hand across her forehead.

"Better," she reassured him, smiling.

His amethyst eyes twinkled as he stepped back and glanced at Minako. "I'm sure having such a pretty nurse is doing wonders." Rei rolled her eyes and chose not to dignify him with a response. "It's about time you two got together," he continued, grinning as she turned to gape at him. He waved a gnarled hand dismissively. "You've never been good at hiding your feelings." He turned his attention away from his blushing granddaughter to Minako. "I know you'll take care of her."

"Yes sir, I will," Minako agreed with a laugh. She tightened the arm around Rei's waist in a reassuring squeeze.

"The Hino's have a knack for attracting beautiful women," he added, grinning.

"Grandpa!" Rei finally exploded.

He chuckled, unperturbed. "I'll go make another pot of tea." Still grinning he disappeared into the kitchen.

Rei tried to ignore the knowing smiles of the others in the room. "So anyway," she ground out as they approached the circle, "what are you all looking at?"

Makoto winked at her and scooted closer to Ami to make room for them. "Your grandpa was showing us a scrapbook he made."

"What kind of scrapbook?" Rei tried not to act concerned as she sat down next to Hotaru.

Minako settled next to her and pinched her cheek playfully. "Baby pictures by any chance?" she teased.

Ami laughed softly as she passed over the book they'd been studying. "Not exactly, although that would be something to see." Rei shot her a look and snatched the book away from her.

"Oh wow," Minako breathed, staring down at the first page in surprise. Rei silently agreed with her sentiments. An old newspaper clipping was carefully clipped and pasted. The headline read: Mysterious Heroines Save Bus Patrons!

"I can't believe he kept all of these," Rei murmured, turning the page. It seemed that every time the media had noticed them, her grandfather had noticed as well. "Sailor V Comes to Tokyo," Rei murmured, reading another headline. "Sailor Senshi Save Picnickers at Park. Sailor Senshi Rescue Party Goers." She continued to flip through the articles, shaking her head in amazement. She stopped on a more recent picture that showed all nine of them. "Sailor Senshi: Heroes of Tokyo."

"Wow," Minako said again. She traced her fingers over the words. Rei looked at her face and found her smiling slightly. She glanced up and met her gaze. "Do you think you'll be feeling up to a fight tomorrow?"

"Sure," Rei replied easily. "Senshi healing." She patted her side and winced when pain shot down her side. Tomorrow," she groaned, "but not today." Minako chuckled and scooted closer so she could rest her head on Rei's shoulder.

"Tomorrow, we'll all go," Haruka said from across the small circle. She threw them a confident grin.

"We always do better when we're together," Ami agreed.

"That means everyone," Minako added, reaching behind her to scoop Artemis off the couch where he'd been silently surveying the group and deposit him in her lap. "That includes you too." Artemis smiled up at her.

"Of course," Luna agreed, hopping down from the back of the chair. She padded uncertainly closer to the group. "If you want our help we'd be- Gak!"

"Don't be silly Luna," Usagi laughed as she pulled the cat into a bone crushing hug. "We need both of you." Luna sighed indulgently and allowed the blonde to keep her in her arms.

"Are you still planning on taking a trip to Crystal Tokyo?" Hotaru asked, leaning around Michiru to look at Setsuna.

The older woman let her gaze travel around the group, a slow smile forming. "I don't think I'll need to. I have a feeling things will turn out alright."

Rei nodded and slipped her hand into Minako's, threading their fingers together. She felt Minako give her hand a reassuring squeeze and smiled. She looked down again at the scrapbook open in her lap. Things would be alright, she knew. They always were when they were all together.


	10. Epilogue: Normal Again

Disclaimer: I do not own Sailor Moon.

Epilogue: Normal Again

-Rei-

"Oh, come on," Usagi begged, giving Makoto her best puppy-dog pout. "Just for a little while?" The five of them were on their way to the Crown to celebrate after the night's victory. Ice cream seemed to be the perfect thing to sooth the battle-weary warriors.

"You promised it was a one time thing," the brunette groaned, veering to the right so Ami was between them as they continued down the street. "Besides, I'm injured."

Rei chuckled, drawing both girl's attention. She held up her hands defensively and moved so she was walking slightly behind Minako. Usagi glared playfully at her and turned her attention back to Makoto, who huffed loudly.

"She's not going to let up until you do it, Makoto," Minako laughed, slipping a protective arm around Rei's waist as she spoke.

"I'm injured," Makoto repeated in a whine, pointing to her shoulder.

"Still?" Usagi asked incredulously. "Rei's better, how come you're not?"

"I can't believe she still has the energy for this after the night we've had," Makoto grumbled, shooting a look over her shoulder at Rei and Minako. Rei shrugged and grinned. The battle had been rough, but not nearly as bad as last time. In fact, their combined power had made relatively short work of the creature.

Minako giggled softly as they watched Usagi continue to wheedle the taller girl. "That reminds me, how _are _you feeling after all that?" she whispered.

Rei smirked, pausing to give her a long thorough kiss. "Does that answer your question," she murmured when she pulled away. Minako looked a little dazed and didn't respond.

"Um, you know the rest of us are right here," Usagi teased, poking Rei's shoulder playfully. The other three had paused to wait for them apparently.

Rei wrapped her arms around Minako's waist, pulling her closer. "Weren't you trying to get a piggy-back ride?"

"Oh yea!" Usagi skipped back to where Makoto had buried her face in her palm.

A squeal of tires made them all look up. Haruka's Porsche skidded to a stop at the corner in front of them and the blonde hopped out of the car. "Here you guys are!" she cried, bounding toward them.

"You drove here from the park? Lazy," Rei chided, eyeing the raced.

Haruka shot her a grin but otherwise ignored her. "Setsuna and Mamoru took a taxi, can you believe it?"

Rei looked up ahead to the glowing Crown sign, but saw no sign of the other two. "It would have been faster to just walk," Rei reminded her. "The park isn't that far from here."

Haruka shrugged merrily, falling into step beside the rest of them. "Driving here is more fun."

"I'll bet," Rei murmured, giving a windblown Michiru a sideways look as she joined them.

Hotaru was beaming happily and caught Haruka's hand as they walked. "It's _way _more fun," she reassured them.

They arrived in front of the Crown just as Setsuna stepped out of the taxi. She shot them a knowing smile as she and Mamoru caught up to them. "We only ran one red light," Hotaru announced with a grin.

Mamoru chuckled. "And you wonder why we took a taxi."

They were all in high spirits as they entered the Crown. The place was packed with people, but thankfully a large table by the window was just opening up. Rei and Michiru went up to order for the group while the others got settled.

"So I take it you're all feeling better?" she asked once they were away from the table.

"For the most part," Rei replied quietly, rubbing her side lightly. The wound had healed enough to move around but she hadn't taken the tape off yet. "We're lucky we heal so fast."

"True," Michiru agreed, "but that's not really what I meant."

Rei glanced over her shoulder at the table and smiled, watching Minako pull a ruffled Artemis out of her bag. "Yea," she admitted, "We're definitely feeling better."

They placed everyone's orders and waited while Motoki got everything together. "Hi Rei! Did you see the news about that monster in the park?" he asked as he filled a milkshake.

"Some of it," she replied in a slightly bored tone. "I was pretty busy most of the evening."

"The Sailor Senshi sure are something," he continued, getting starry-eyed and adding three extra scoops to the sundae he was absently making. "They're all so beautiful, I'd love to meet them."

Michiru cleared her throat pointedly and he stared sheepishly at the huge dessert. "Oops," he murmured. Then he shrugged and proceeded to cover the mound of ice cream in chocolate syrup. "This one's Usagi's right?" he said cheerily. "She won't mind."

Michiru couldn't help but laugh at that. "No, I'm sure she won't."

"Mamoru's the one who has to deal with her later, not me," Rei added with a chuckle. They carried the two heaping trays back to the table and began passing out everyone's orders.

"Oh thank you Rei!" Usagi squealed when her eyes fell on her giant dessert. "Thank you thank you!" Ami stood and deftly took the tray away from Rei moments before Usagi latched onto her.

"It wasn't my idea," Rei grumbled as she struggled out of her friends grip.

"Grouchy," Minako teased, reaching across the table to retrieve her strawberry shake. Rei rolled her eyes and sat beside her, snatching her root beer float from the tray. Usagi plopped down on her other side and immediately began devouring her food.

Minako raised an eyebrow at her and Rei's serious expression melted into a grin. Rolling her eyes, she turned her attention back to her float and took an appreciative sip. _Finally_, she thought as she glanced around the table at her friends. _Finally, we just get to be normal._

A/N: Thanks to everyone for reading! I made myself (and everyone reading i'm sure)sad at the end of Once Upon a Time so this had to be done! I hope everyone enjoyed the story! :)

Extra Special Thanks to:

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Thank you so much for the reviews! It's so great to know what everyone thinks of my writing and it inspires me to work harder updating. Plus it gives me warm fuzzies! :)


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